Rayman and the legend of our world
by Doctor Rayman
Summary: I think we're quiet sure Rayman can handle in his own world, but how would he manage in ours? In this series, we aim to find out.This is my first fic so please review
1. Armageddon

**This is the first story I ever wrote for fan fiction so try to read it, please.**

Chapter One Armageddon 

Rayman lay in his hammock, relaxing, chewing a blade of grass, staring up at the sky, pondering over life. Sure, it hadn't always been a party, there'd been tough times, looking back now he wondered how he'd survived. However, today everything had been perfect. It'd been two years since anything had happened, and here he was, beautiful world, he was a hero, respected and loved throughout the planet. Everyone was happy, no more wars or enemies or villains, it was everything he'd fought for.

However, when he thought about it, right back at the beginning, how it'd all started was a mystery. He just remembered pain, and suffering, but where and why he had no idea. Then suddenly he woke up, under a tree, no memory of where he came from or who he was. All he remembered was his name and that he was a good man, that was it. He'd been found soon after by fishermen, met Globox, Murphy, Ly and the others, then a few weeks later called up by Betilla the fairy to rescue the electoons from the evil Mister Dark. Having succeeded he returned home, to find his world overrun by evil mechanical pirates and his friends prisoners of them. Though he too had been captured, he'd escaped and managed to free everyone, then destroyed Razorbeard, the pirate leader, and saved the world again. Two years later, they'd been betrayed by the lums, the keepers of light themselves, who had been turned evil by a rouge comrade called Andre. They'd called themselves the Hoodlums, and though they'd been the strongest enemies Rayman had ever met he'd eventually been able to overthrow them. So now here he was, and whilst he thought he was safe, his greatest trail ever was already coming into play, completely unbeknownst to him.

As Rayman rested, the spirit and creator of his universe, Pollukus, sat on his island in the centre of the sea of lums, meditating. His only companions where the lums themselves, no one could get on or off his island, no one could even find it, unless Pollukus wished it. Pollukus himself was seeking something, as a matter of fact, seeking something hidden within the thing he was seeking right now, and with the energy of the lums as his aides he had nearly managed it. At last he heard a crack, a break in the physical balance of things, space in the vortex, a passage. He smiled; finally he could take what he needed. But suddenly darkness hit him, he felt a rush of evil and hatred come through the door, which he had opened, and at once his happiness was destroyed, as he realised he had made a grave mistake…

"Rayman" a voice said.

"Huh?" Rayman was shaken from his dream instantly, when he looked up he saw a Ly hovering before him, she was in a meditating position.

"Ly," Rayman laughed "always a pleasure"

"I'm afraid not," the fairy told the hero "at least not necessarily, Rayman, you have to go to Clearleaf forest"

"Oh" Rayman liked Clearleaf forest, but was disturbed by Ly's tone, it sounded anxious, worried.

"A portal has appeared there," Ly went on "unlike any we've experienced before, I have sensed that it's presence is a dark one, you have to investigate"

Rayman was silent for a while, before nodding "Ok" he said, stretched himself out, and set off.

Ly watched him go, a tight knot in her throat. She had felt the darkness of the portal, it spoke of greater evil than they had ever faced, she had feared for Rayman many times, but she suspected, this time, Doomsday may be upon them.

Her train of thoughts was stopped suddenly as 'something' hit her around the back of her head and she fell to the floor.

When Rayman reached the forest he was joined by Globox and Murphy. "Whatever this portal speaks of it's not friendly," Murphy briefed "and you won't last a second without us"

"Calm down fly guy," Rayman laughed, "it's probably only a slight mishap in a lum experiment, happens all the time"

"You won't be saying that when you see it," Globox jittered "that thing is NOT my style, it's dark and scary, Globox no like dark and scary, Globox more for sunny beaches and late night tango parties"

"I'm sure everything'll be alright," Rayman told the glewt "now let's take a look"

"Yeh, you two do that," Murphy decided "I'll go and, er, scout"

"You'll come with us," Rayman told the greenbottle.

"Yeh, Murphy come with us," Globox agreed.

"Oh come on, I'm the teacher not the fighter," Murphy argued.

"Why is everyone taking this so seriously?" Rayman wondered aloud "there's not going to be any fighting Murphy, and if there is, I'll take care of it, now let's go"

Rayman wished he hadn't been so sure when he actually laid eyes on the portal, it loomed high above them, simply by looking at it you felt sucked into it, inside whatever it held on the other side. Several Teensies and fairies had crowded around it, talking excitedly between themselves. Their chatter died down as they spotted their hero. Without a word Rayman and his sidekicks walked towards the portal, Rayman put his hand into it, and immediately dragged it out again. He felt pain; he'd felt pain often, but never like this. It flowed through his veins, up to his head, and he fell backwards into Globox as the portal began to shake. Suddenly, a huge ship exploded from it and hovered over the crowd. The crowd began screaming and running all over the place as a bright light beamed down from the ship and several figures flew down through it.

"Is that?" Murphy gawped.

"It can't be" Rayman gasped.

The robotic pirates charged from the ship and began grabbing anyone they could get their hands on. Globox was powered down by two huge monsters, and Murphy was knocked out of the air by a sharp steel hook. Rayman jumped to his feet, still feeling the portal's pain. He'd felt it before but he couldn't think where, and there where more pressing matters. When Razorbeard had fled, it had been a well-known fact that there had been many pirate factories left in the world, but rumour was Pollukus had tracked them all down and destroyed them. The pirates hadn't been seen for ages and everyone had assumed the rumour to be true. Yet here they where. Rayman decided to ask questions later and began punching and kicking the robots furiously, those who he freed from their clutches quickly ran to safety. Rayman fought well, but the ship seemed to be producing an infinite number of pirates and he soon found himself surrounded by five of them, each spawning flamethrowers.

"Surrender," one of them buzzed, "we will kill you, unless you help us. We are searching for a hero, take us to the one you know as Rayman"

Rayman had never expected this, he was used to his enemies knowing him instantly, particularly the pirates. It then became clear that these where new pirates, not the remains of the army or rebuilt versions of robots he'd met before, these guys where fresh from the oven. Wherever that portal led, someone wanted him. His attackers knew of him but they didn't know him, they didn't know who he was, and the hero realised he could use this to his advantage.

"And what if I'd rather die than betray him?" he asked.

"Who said anything about betrayal," the pirate laughed, "we want you to find Rayman, and give him a message"

Rayman's heart leapt "what's the message?"

"Our emperor wants him," the pirate went on _oh so they have an emperor now _Rayman noted _that's interesting _"tell him unless he surrenders himself we will kill his pretty little fairy friend, the one you call Ly"

"What!!!"

"Tell him we have her, she is our prisoner, she will die, slowly and painfully, if your hero does not surrender himself. NOW GO FTECH HIM"

"No need," Rayman sighed "you have him already"

"So the great Rayman," the pirate commander mocked as he marched up and down in between Rayman, Globox, Murphy and the portal "I really expected quite a bit more from you"

"You won't get away with this brain of steel," Murphy yelled "Rayman will get us out of this"

"You will won't you Ray?" Globox asked, he was clearly worried; each of them had a muscular pirate standing behind them.

Rayman looked down at the floor, his eyes dropped.

"Come on Rayman, we need you" Murphy pleaded.

"You're our hero Rayman," Globox went on "don't give yourself up like this"

"I'm sorry," Rayman sighed, "I just can't let them hurt Ly"

"Ly is just one," Murphy cried "and yes I know that sounds cruel but its true. If we loose you the whole world will die, Ly would be proud to die for us"

Rayman didn't reply.

The commander laughed, "You made a wise decision hero," he turned to two other pirates "kill the fairy anyway"

"What!!!!" Rayman exclaimed, "WAIT, YOU CAN'T…."

"Too late hero," the commander shouted "you belong to the emperor now"

The pirate behind Rayman booted him in the back and he flew into the portal.

"RAYMAAAAAN!!!" Murphy yelled as his friend vanished into the void.

"Nooooo" Globox shouted.

"Don't wet yourselves," the commander shouted, "we thought Ray-boy could use some company"

"What!" Globox began before he and Murphy where kicked into the vortex after Rayman…

High above all this in the ship, a mechanical man stood watching all this through a huge window. He was fierce looking, red eyes, bald, metal head, and a veil across his face acting as a mask. His huge body was covered by a dark green cape, and his fingers where bony and sharp.

This robot was the second in command to the pirate emperor, his name was Doomand, or as he preferred it, General Doomand. With him at the window was a smaller robot with a smart complexion, wearing a pink apron and holding a silver tray with some cakes on.

Doomand was cackling to himself villainously "Perfect, the emperor has Rayman, everything is going to plan"

"Most excellent sir," the small robot said, "would you care for a fairy cake?"

Doomand cried angrily "CLEMONT!!!!" he yelled, "I'm about to become the greatest dictator that ever lived and you're baking fairy cakes!!!!!"

"Are you sure that's a no sir?" Clemont asked "they are simply enticing, even though I say so myself"

"Gnnnarrrhhh!!!" Doomand exploded "listen Clemont, my plan is coming into play, soon I will overthrow the emperor, destroy those stupid little balls of fluff that keep opposing us, and then I will be ruler of both worlds, mwahhahahhahah!!!"

"You are quiet the genius sir" Clemont agreed, helping himself to a cake.

"And once the emperor has destroyed Rayman," Doomand thought to himself "they'll be no one to stop me…"

**To be continued…**


	2. The other side

**Ok so chapter on didn't really feature our world but we're getting into it now. P.S: There are 7 chapters planned but that may change. Also, I'm now using a series of Xs to indicate changing of scene to avoid confusion (as the previous underlining system was a bit awkward)**

**Chapter Two The other side**

As Rayman spun round, flying through the void, visions from his past began to return to him. He felt pain, the same pain he'd felt when he first put his hand into the portal, a pain he recognised but couldn't think where from. And suddenly he remembered that he didn't know who he was, really. It had been a while since he cared, not really since shortly after his battle with Mister Dark. Why? He knew. Not since then had he felt this pain. A pain he didn't know but almost seemed to whisper to him _Who are you? _It seemed to say _You are a hero, you save people, you fight evil, but who are you yourself? Do you fight for your own, or destroy them? How can you know hero? How can you know?_

"Shut up," Rayman yelled, "shut up shut up shut up shut up!!!"

As he flew towards wherever this portal was carrying him another vision hit him. It was a long time ago, when he'd confronted Mister Dark at Candy Chateau, Dark had tried several means of stopping Rayman including a dark clone and confusing him with dark magic, but nothing had worked. Dark had succeeded in one thing though, stealing both Rayman's hands and hanging them by a chain high in the roof of his house. This had rendered the hero helpless; all he could do was jump the blasts of fire his enemy threw at him. However, after a while Dark surrounded Rayman with a flame wall, and the flames began to move in.

"You're doomed Rayman," Dark yelled "oh yes, it will be good to have revenge at last"

"What?" Rayman couldn't think what Dark wanted revenge for.

Just before the flames hit him though, two electoons appeared and rescued Rayman's hands from above; they then flew the hero over the wall and onto confront Dark.

"Thanks," Rayman had said, and then to his enemy "now what was it you wanted revenge for eh?"

"Oh I'm sorry," Dark mocked, "don't you know?" he removed his hat; his head was just a blue ball with two yellow eyes.

"Ouch!!!" Rayman commented, "How'd you do that?"

Dark laughed, "It was you that did this me! It's your fault I'm like this!"

A link to the past! Rayman's heart leapt, but at that point Dark charged at him and he didn't have much more time to think about it. After defeating Mister Dark, Rayman had sometimes regretted not questioning him more on this but not much. He'd settled down in what was now his home with Globox, Ly, Murphy and the others, and decided that if his past was anything like what he could remember, he'd rather it stayed forgotten.

Then he felt the pain again, and it suddenly mattered. The pain was coming through the void, and it taught Rayman one thing, wherever he came from, he was going back there.

When he woke, he was in total darkness. He tried to move but something was lying on top of him. He reached up and poked it, it was hard and squishy, and let out a deep voiced whimper.

"Huh? Who what?" it said.

"Eh?" Rayman replied "Globox is that you?"

Globox jumped "Rayman it's you, oooo Globox so happy to see you again"

He rolled off Rayman and another yelp let out "Oof, Globox gerroff"

"Murphy that's you isn't it?" Rayman quizzed.

"Yeh," Murphy replied "now can you get this brute off me please I can't see a thing"

They heard Globox stand up; they heard him slip, then whoop loudly as his voice trailed away.

"GLOBOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!" Rayman yelled "Murphy jump on my back"

Murphy obliged, that would stop them getting separated, and after fumbling around a bit he was clinging on tight. Rayman then ran in the direction Globox seemed to have gone, slipped, and tumbled down what he assumed was the same shoot.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" both Rayman and Murphy yelled as they slid down a tunnel.

As they slipped, the light got better and Globox reappeared, the three of them then kept falling. Eventually they slid out of the tube and splashed down in a river, a rather murky river for that matter. Murphy flew off Rayman last minute and hovered about the water, Rayman and Globox surfaced, coughing and spluttering. The water was full of stuff, slippery green reeds, some pretty dirty seaweed, and several material things with weird words like 'Mc Donald's' written on them floating down. What Mc Donald's was the two couldn't be sure, some kind of pirate base was Rayman's only assumption, he and Globox floated there, looking around them.

"Phew" Rayman breathed, holding his nose, it was not the most hygienic water he'd ever swum in.

"Pirates do not know about pumps do they?" Globox assumed.

"Er guys?" Murphy reappeared, looking very worried. His eyes shifted left and right.

They where in a city, and from where they where a very odd looking city. There where huge, brown, brick walls towering above them, surrounding the riverbank, this was odd, most rivers just ended at a grassy bank as far as Rayman knew. There where several bridges of identical bricks passing across the river, and on top of the walls where massive brick buildings, the whole area was made up of them. There wasn't a blade of grass anywhere as far as the three could tell, just the occasional tree. Worse and weirder still, crossing the bridges where strange vehicles. They where in many shapes and sizes, but the majority of them had four average sized wheels that seemed to make them move, and then where more or less made up of very small steel buildings with usually two doors visible but the three newcomers assumed there where an identical two on the other side. They saw beings walking alongside these machines, but couldn't make out any features. The three looked at each other, made worried expressions, and swam to a ramp they could see leading up from the river to the wall.

Once on land they saw a being come towards them and immediately they knew they had to panic. He was (they assumed he was male) tall, thin, a little like Ly _maybe they're fairies _Rayman thought but he quickly shook this possibility off, small ears, long (ish) hair, limbs in believable places, head.

The three approached him, smelling of the river, and Rayman spoke "Er, excuse me sir we're new here and we where wondering, well actually we're lost, where are…" he couldn't finish.

The being saw Rayman, leapt of his feat, and ran off yelling, "Help, aliens, out of the river!!!!"

Murphy was clearly insulted "Aliens? Us?"

"Yeah," Globox jumped in "we saved these people"

"No WE didn't" Murphy butted in.

"Ok, ok Rayman saved them we helped"

"I helped, you didn't"

"What!!! Watch it!!!" Globox threatened.

"All you did was get captured and swallow Dark lums," Murphy informed him "I actually taught old limblessful a few things," he got out his manual "with this little ba-"

"Knock it off guys," Rayman sounded worried "I don't think we're in our world anymore…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ly had been imprisoned in a silver shield floating over a generator, very like the one she'd been put in when she was held in the fairy glade during the pirate's first invasion. The robots patrolled back and forewords around her.

"Message incoming," one of them laughed at her "now we'll see whom Rayman cares about more, his world, or you?"

Ly closed her eyes as the pirate read the message. _Just let me die Rayman, save the others _she pleaded _without you we don't stand a chance._

The pirate looked up "seems he loves you a lot," he laughed "oh well, we're to destroy you anyway"

"Not on my watch!!!" a voice said.

Ly looked up, Clark smashed through a nearby door and began ripping the pirates apart.

"Clark!!!" Ly laughed, she never thought she'd be so happy to see the one-man army of muscle.

Clark destroyed all the pirate guards easily, and then smashed the generator, freeing the fairy.

"Ly honey you ok?" he laughed as she fell to the floor.

"Yeh," Ly said picking herself up "thank you Clark"

"That's great baby," Clark hit her on the back knocking her down again by accident "ho ho sorry," he helped her up "man is life weird or what, everything's exactly as Pollukus foretold"

"What." Ly asked, "Did Pollukus foretell?"

"Well sugar plum it was kinda odd yeah, he said that darkness would come and we would be unable to rely on Rayman, poor little buddy, Pollukus says he's gone from this world or something"

"Yeh," Ly sighed "its true"

"Man that's terrible, we gotta get our kid back, come on baby, to the freedom five HQ"

"The freedom what?"

"Freedom five honey, that's me: the brute, Romeo: he doctor, Gumsi: the commander, Ssssssam: the runner and Pollukus: founder and leader"

Not five that Ly had the greatest faith in "Pollukus set an elite (she coughed) team up and never told the fairy concil?"

"Don't take it so hard sugar he wanted it to be top secret so when the drakness came and Rayman went we could be ready and unhunted"

"Alright!" Ly had heard enough "I need to see Pollukus"

"Now we're talking baby let's go"

"And you can cut that sweet talk out right now"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman, Globox and Murphy hid themselves in a park, which was a little bit more like what they knew, a few grassy patches, rivers and trees, though still an annoying amount of concrete.

They sat down on a bench and got ready to relax, when what looked like a family walked past. There where four of them, the gang assumed Mum, Dad, older sister and younger brother. All four of them screamed and hid, the mother pulled her children together in her arms "Don't hurt us" she pleaded.

"We're not going to hurt you," Murphy told her "Globox here couldn't hurt a Marylfly"

"Could"

"Couldn't"

"Could"

"Couldn't"

"If you two don't stop arguing I'll show you what a silver lum can do!" Rayman readied his fist, his two friends immedatly shut up.

Rayman calmed down then turned to the family "We mean you no harm, we're lost, can you tell us where we are"

"We're from the fairy concil" Murphy butted in.

The daughter stired suddenly "Are you fairies?"

The three looked shocked "Globox not fairy" Globox argued.

"Er, no," Rayman told her "but we are friends with them," he held out his hand "Rayman" he introduced himself.

"Yes THE Rayman" Murphy advertised.

The girl broke free of her mother and shook Rayman's hand.

"So er," Rayman poundered "where are we?"

"You're in Paris," the father stood up, so did the rest of the family, they'd clearly realised the stranger's situation "France"

"Ok," Rayman nodded, he'd never heard of France but decided to pretend he had"

"So is this west of the Land of the Livid Dead or north?" Murphy asked.

The family looked at him.

"Ignore him" Globox chipped in.

"Listen," Rayman had no idea what the next move should be, so he went with what he knew "have you seen any robots recently, or factories, they look like pirates"

The little boy's face perked up at this.

"Er no," the dad said, not sure what to make of all this "but there is that new building by the tower"

"Tower?" Globox asked.

"What Tower?" Murphy asked.

"You've come to Paris and you don't know the Eiffel tower?" the mother was surprised.

Rayman was silent, it was their best lead, and something to do until they could get home "care to give directions?" he grinned.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"The Pirates are moving in on the Menhir hills," Gumsi reported "I've sent some Knaaren forces up there but I don't know how long they'll last"

"Like, these pirates are totally not mellow" Romeo gave his own veiws.

"Hey team!!!" Clark yelled, appearing through the door of the freedom five's hideout in the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava, "we've got a visitor"

Ly appeared through the door "Hi" she waved sheepishly.

"Ly," Sssssssam the snake slid up "it'ssssssssss been a while hasssss it not"

"Ly it's like, totally good to see you baby" Romeo greeted _not this again _Ly thought.

"Ly," Gumsi arrived "Gumsi, child king of the Knaaren, at your service" he bowed.

"Hey where's the big daddy?" Clark asked "where's Pollukus?"

"He'ssssssss over there in that corner" Sssssssssam informed.

Ly looked over, Pollukus sat in a corner, he was staring at his feet, looking down.

"What's up Pollukus?" Ly asked.

"Yeah, like, totally mellow one," Romeo arrived "this whole conspiracy thing was like, totally what you predicted dude and you said we have to be ready man"

"Yes in dead your majesty," Gumsi backed the teensie doctor up "we have to be vigilant, you knew this was coming and you know getting upset about it won't help stop Razorbeard"

"That'ssssssssss asssssssssssuming Razorbeard issssssssssssss behind it"

Pollukus sighed "I knew it was coming but I didn't know how," he said "I spent months trying to stop it, then I moved onto another project, tried to find something I thought might help stop this storm, and in doing so I brought it upon us…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The hero, the glewt and the greenbottle stared up at the Paris tower, the one that the humans (they'd picked up the fact that that was the name of this race) called the Eiffel tower. It was definatly a marvel, and reminded Rayman very much of The Tower of the Leptys, but he didn't think about this too much. They'd spotted a huge, floating building on the river, and where now standing on a bridge across the river looking up at the tower.

"I assume that's the factory that was mentioned," Murphy pointed at the building "it's huge and it floats, only a pirate, let's go"

He went to move, Rayman and Globox continued staring at the tower.

"Oh come on it's just a slightly smaller Tower of the Leptys let's go!!!" Murphy cried.

Suddenly a load siren bellowed and several of the vehicles (cars was the word that seemed to be used) drove up on all sides of the trio and surrounded them. On each of them was written _Gendarme. _The siren was everything the three needed to know to make at guess at what the Gendarmes where, the law.

Several humans in blue uniform dived out of the cars with guns "Ok, freeze where you are with your hands up" one of them commanded.

Globox and Murphy looked at Rayman, Rayman nodded, then winked as if to say, "Do what I do"

The three raised their hands, and then began to shift slowly towards the bridge. The Gendarmes raised their weapons in warning. The three slipped along the side of the bridge, Rayman nodded, and the three back flipped over the wall and returned to the river.

A round of bullets fired from the bridge, the three ducked under, then returned up.

"I hate water," Murphy complained, flying above the river and shaking himself dry.

"Come on we gotta keep moving," Rayman led "those law people could…"

A boat with the now familiar Gendarme logo floated into view. Murphy vanished, Globox and Rayman turned to swim back under the bridge but another boat loomed into view and they where forced to make their way to a small platform lying on the left hand side of the river, away from the tower.

Globox was a bit flobby in some aspects, but he could swim, and he sped ahead of his best friend like a speedboat. Rayman lost sight of him to a boat, and dived under to swim past it. He submerged past the pursuer, but a cry made him turn round. The boat was reeling in a fishing net and caught in it was Globox.

"GLOBOX!!!" Rayman yelled.

"Globox be fine," the big blue fella assured him "get out of here quickly"

Rayman remembered what had happened last time he'd waited for a friend and decided to get going, probably for the best of both of them.

He reached the platform alone, pulled himself up, and breathed heavily. His relief didn't last long; he was suddenly punched in the face by a Gendarme and fell to the floor. His hands and feet where tied together and he was pinned down between the human's hands. Another Gendarme arrived with a plastic bag, containing a rather dazed looking Murphy, and two more soon came dragging the Globox-containing net with them.

"Right," the Murphy catcher asked "we've got them, now what?"

"Let me help" a voice said, a man with curly brown hair, yellow eyes, and a smart suit appeared holding a gun. Behind him was a man completely hidden in a green velvet cape.

"I am Krad," the man introduced holding out a card "and this is my partner Doomand, we are from the France and European extraterrestrial and suspicious being protection agency, the FEESBPA, and we have special certification to take these freaks in"

"I wish everyone would stop treating us like they've never seen a limbless hero, a glewt, and a talking greenbottle before" Murphy ranted.

"They haven't though," Globox told him.

"Ah" Murphy decided not to finish.

The Gendarme glanced at the card and immediately agreed, he was clearly desperate to get this situation out of his hands.

"Take them!" he commanded.

"Thank you chief" Krad said, then nodded to Doomand.

The last thing Rayman remembered was Doomand knocking him out with a gun, but Rayman smiled as he once again left consciousness. He saw a glimpse of Doomand's face under the cape, he was a robo pirate, and that meant they where on the right track…

So in the end the three winded up where they wanted to be, when they woke up in a cell they knew immediately that they where on board the floating building, it had the same rusty outline and they could feel it rocking on the river.

"What are we going to do?" Globox was panicking.

"We're going to escape," Rayman told him firmly "escape, stop Krad and Doomand, find the portal and go home, save the world"

"Are you?" Krad stormed in through a door "Are you really? Well good luck with that"

Rayman glared at him "Oh yes, the great Rayman," Krad laughed, "Doomand said I should target you first if I wanted to conquer your world, but I really expected more from you"

"Krad" Rayman held out a hand.

Krad laughed, "That's just my outdoor name," he told them "you can call me by my real name, Mister Dark…"

**To be continued…**


	3. A hero's return

**Here comes chapter 3, enjoy, as always give reviews and positive criticism. Thanks to all who have and will review/ed. Also there have been a few questions about how Rayman and gang understand French. Whilst we know that their world has its own language, since sometimes they do speak our languages too, we can assume that they are fluent in both Raymanian and French. I've replaced the previously used underlining with a series of Xs to show scene changes to avoid any confusion.**

**Chapter three Return of a hero**

"You're… I… what… when… how?" Rayman spluttered.

Dark stared at him in the eyes "Not the reaction I was expecting" he murmured.

"But… what… I mean… I saw you…" Rayman regained his cool "how did this happen?"

"How did what happen?" Dark quizzed.

"I destroyed you Dark," Rayman yelled, he didn't understand it at all. Surely there couldn't be more than one man by the name of Mister Dark, but this guy that stood before him looked nothing like the cloaked figure Rayman had rescued the Great Protoon from, except for the eyes, and now that the hero thought about it, the voice was the same.

Dark laughed, "You wish, we've never met before hero, you must have me confused with someone else"

"I never forget a face" it just came out, though Rayman felt silly to say that when Dark had changed so much over the years.

Dark laughed again "forget it hero, this is our first meeting, and trust me, it'll be one of our last"

"Now hold on," Murphy darted in "why is Rayman so important to you?"

"Since you're not going to live to figure it out yourselves I'll tell you," Dark decided "make it your dying wish. Three years ago there was a dangerous storm in the middle of Scandinavia (_Rayman, Globox and Murphy didn't know where Scandinavia was and didn't ask, but Murphy did note that there was a bar called Scandivia in Band Land) _and lightning struck, causing a huge crater in the ground. Some others and I went to investigate and we found pieces of a robot in the smoking pit, I added them to some other parts and built Doomand. He told me he that he came from another world," Dark coughed just before he said those last two words but no one really noticed "worked for a well meaning businessman called Razorbeard he said, wiped out now, and at your hands Rayman"

"He must have been a survivor of the army" Murphy realised.

"The only survivor" Globox prayed.

"He helped me put together this army of robots, we planned to capture this world and rebuild Razorbeard's legacy, then that portal appeared and Doomand realised that it led it back to his home world. So through it our army marched, to avenge Razorbeard. Doomand said we should finish you of first, so that's what we're doing"

"Wait," Rayman stopped him "you mean you didn't activate the portal"

Dark laughed once again "oh no, it just appeared a few months ago, whatever opened it, it's in your world"

One thing Rayman did notice that added to his suspicion of the fact that this was not his first visit to this world was the fact that Doomand's appearance here sounded a lot like his appearance in his own world. The mystery deepened.

"Listen Dark," Rayman yelled, "I don't understand quite what happened, but I'm going to find out"

"Really" Dark mocked.

"Go Rayman" Globox cheered.

"First though," Rayman went on "I'm going to escape, save both worlds, and defeat you. Again!"

"You tell 'im Rayman" Globox was getting really enthusiastic

"Next time Globox says he's going for a few pints just tell him the pub's closed" Murphy advised.

"Are you," Dark laughed "are you really, I think you're a little too worked up Ray, time to begin your destruction I think"

He snapped his fingers and two Robo Pirates popped up from behind Rayman and punched him in the back.

Dazed, Rayman looked up as the two pirates began to drag him towards the door of the cell, which Dark unlocked.

"Hey Globox," Murphy turned to the big blue being "are you just gonna let them drag your best buddy away?"

"Are you?"

"He's my buddy not my best buddy, besides, what can I, an innocent, weak, stylishly good looking greenbottle do against those… things?"

Globox looked at him.

"Oh all right" Murphy darted at a pirate and kicked him in the head. The pirate's skull fell to the floor.

A strange deep voiced song evaporated around the room, Globox had begun rain dancing. A cloud appeared above the second pirate and it began to rain on him. The pirate rusted, creaked and fell apart.

"Thanks guys" Rayman stood up.

"Gnnarhhh!!!" Dark yelled, "You freaks won't get away with this" he drew a gun and aimed it at the three.

Rayman threw his fist at the weapon and knocked it out of the emperor's hand. The gun slid along the floor. Dark clicked his fingers and another five robots appeared, he then turned to grab his own gun but suddenly an alarm voice echoed around the room "Unauthorised entrance of factory, all at arms"

"No, not now!!!" Dark pleaded but before he or his soldiers could act a nearby elevator pinged and six more of Rayman's enemies emerged from it.

However, they weren't pirates.

"What the…?" Globox exclaimed.

Rayman groaned, things had just got even more complicated.

The lead Hoodlum was similar to the grenadiers; only his costume consisted of swirly red and white patterns. The other five where normal.

"Hoodlums," Murphy sighed "WHY ARE THERE HOODLUMS? We destroyed Andre!"

"They must be survivors," Rayman suggested.

"No way," Murphy cried, "Dark survived, Doomand survived, Hoodlums survived, a little repetitive don't you think. Didn't we do anything or something?"

"I suppose you're right," Rayman agreed, "there's something more to this, like they're all connected. Question is, what?"

Globox had gone very quiet, but the two didn't mention this, they realised he must be thinking of the time when he swallowed the dark lum lord and had some rather nasty chest pains.

"The emperor of the pirates I assume," the lead Hoodlum introduced "I am Sarrago, Hoodlum captain"

"Listen Scarecrow boy," Dark shouted, "I've got some business to deal with here and I really don't have time for your pathetic games"

"There is always time for the hoodlums" Sarrago yelled as he threw a grenade at the six pirates.

Dark moved but the five robots where blown up.

"I have a captive I need to take care of," Dark yelled "and I don't need you idiots in my way"

"Captive?" Sarrago sounded sarcastic "I don't see any"

Dark looked at the cell, it was empty.

The door was still open from when the two pirates where taking Rayman to be destroyed, there was no question as to how the three had escaped. Dark swung round in time to see the three ex-prisoners hi-tail it round a corner. He shot in their direction but missed, and the bullet hit a control panel nearby. The panel blew up.

"_Faze one activated" _a computer voice said.

"Surrender yellow eyed boy" Sarrago shouted.

"At once" Dark said lifting his arms.

However, as he dropped his weapon from one hand, he caught it in the other and surprised the hoodlums, he managed to shoot two of them, their costumes vanished and the dark lums that had been inside them flew away.

"Clever," Sarrago remarked "very clever, now finish him boys" the three remaining hoodlums advanced on Dark.

"So it's war then" Dark raised his arms and three pirates appeared to counter the hoodlums. As the crossfire between Hoodlum shotguns and Pirate arm cannons began Dark slipped away after his escapees.

Rayman, Globox and Murphy pelted it through the halls of the factory. All over Pirates and Hoodlums where appearing but they seemed more interested in destroying each other rather than the runners. Occasionally Rayman would have to punch one or two of them that grew suspicious but overall their only priority was escaping. They darted around a corner and saw three pirates marching up a corridor towards them. They swung round and made their way up the corridor the other way. However, they soon came to a dead end. Worse still, a Hoodlum appeared before them.

The friends took cover behind a pillar; the Hoodlum attempted to shoot them, but suddenly spotted the oncoming pirates and turned on them.

"Surrender Lum," the pirates ordered "this is our territory"

"Everything is Hoodlum!" the scarecrow-resembling creature shouted before shooting at one pirate.

The pirate exploded, but the other two destroyed the Hoodlum in a rapid of fire. A stray bullet passed the black lum as it escaped and slammed into a control panel like the one Dark had destroyed accidentally _Faze two activated _the computer voice said.

_Attention servants of the cause _a second computer voice announced as the three rushed down a long corridor chased by a huge armoured hoodlum (the sort that used to be a toilet seat) _two of the three self destruct fazes have been activated and we advise an evacuation of the premises. All security activated._

A door began to lower itself at the end of the corridor.

"Hurry!" Murphy exclaimed and the three picked up the pace, the 'lum shooting at them from behind.

Rayman did a foreword roll under the door, and then turned to see if his friends had made it. They hadn't yet, and the door was nearly at the ground. Suddenly Globox shot out from under the door and got stuck, jamming the door. Murphy flew under the gap and shrugged at Rayman.

Globox felt his toes twitch and realised his pursuer was shooting at him.

"Help!!!" he yelled.

"Here Globox" Rayman shot out his hand and pulled his friend out.

The door slammed shut, and they heard the Hoodlum roar with rage. They where safe, for now.

They where now standing above a balcony, and looking down they could see Doomand in what looked like his office. He was talking to a small robot wearing a pink apron that was dusting a lampshade with a feather duster.

Doomand was talking on a phone; he put it down and turned to the robot "The best of the army is loaded, we can clone them back at the factory" he reported.

"So this isn't the factory" Murphy realised.

"Now let's get out of here," Doomand went on "leave the scum to die"

"Very good sir," the small robot said "but I really must finish here first"

"CLEMONT!!!!" Doomand yelled, "WE'RE ALL ABOUT TO DIE AND YOU WANT TO DUST A LAMPSHADE?"

"I really do feel I should sir," Clemont replied "but then we can go, how would you like to help? I would be most grateful"

Doomand growled "Fine, I'll leave you here" he stormed off.

Clemont sniffed "Fine be that way" he went back to dusting.

The three above heard an explosion, they looked round to see that the hoodlum had destroyed the door and now stood before them.

"Rayman do something," Globox cried.

"I don't know, I mean, I always used a hoodlum can against these things" Rayman jittered.

The ex-toilet seat fired.

"Jump!" Rayman yelled, his friends didn't need telling twice. They dodged the shot, which flew foreword and destroyed the final panel.

_Faze three activated._

"What?" Clemont heard it, then realised what it was "oh my," he dropped his duster and went in the direction his master had gone "sir, please wait," he heard Doomand's escape pod take off "oh dear" he remarked.

The chains that held the floating factory in one position split apart, this was the self-destruct feature. The factory sped off down the river, humans all over ran to see what was happening.

The factory turned on its side, Rayman, Globox and Murphy where shaken and fell onto the wall that had now become the floor. The big hoodlum smashed through the new floor and tumbled into the room next door/below that was already filling with water.

Dark legged it down a corridor, he'd given up chasing Rayman, hopefully the hero would die trying to escape, there was a portal he could use at the end of the hall but first he had to get something. He came to a pillar that once ran from ceiling to floor but now from wall to wall. That made retrieving the thing easier. He reached into a small hole in the pillar and drew out something. The Emit Amulet, he couldn't afford to loose that. He pocketed it and ran to the portal.

The factory reached a turn in the river, kept going, and blew up against the river wall.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"I know how you feel my lord," Ly tapped Pollukus on the back "but it wasn't your fault, honestly"

"Thank you Ly" Pollukus sighed, he knew she was trying but it didn't make him feel any better.

The two where crouched in a bush overlooking the pirate's new stronghold on the Menhir hills, none of Gumsi's Knaaren had returned from here so the Freedom Five, plus Ly, where launching their own assault. Ly and Pollukus crouched in a bush, opposite them in a hedge lay Clark and Gumsi, and back behind them stood Romeo and Sssssam.

"Ok Clark," Pollukus spoke telepathically "after three, you and Gumsi attack, Ly and I will follow you in, whilst Romeo and Sssssam take advantage of the opportunity and get inside the hold, see what they can find out"

"Sir," Ly broke in "something's happening"

A portal had appeared outside the stronghold and a man wearing a smart suit, with curly brown hair and yellow eyes emerged from the portal.

"Mister Dark sir," a pirate bowed "what brings you here?"

"Mister Dark!!!!" Ly exclaimed, the others seemed equally as surprised, except for Pollukus who simply closed his eyes in dread "but how… when… why?"

"I need transport to the main portal," Dark told the pirate "we where forced to abandon HQ, but we struck a major blow in the Hoodlums"

"Hoodlums too!!!" even Pollukus looked shocked this time.

"And the hero?"

_Rayman _Ly realised.

"He couldn't have survived that blast," Dark replied "I don't think so anyway"

_He did _Ly knew, they may have lost their telepathic link, but she knew she would know if he was dead _so long as you live, Rayman, no matter which world, I will always be with you _she tried to tell him, she never knew if he'd heard.

"Come then," the pirate told his emperor "I'll take you to a transport"

"Doctor, Sssssam," Pollukus turned to the Freedom Five's agility pair "change of plan, follow that transport"

"Yessssssssss ssssssssssssir"

"At once man"

The two headed off.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Uggggh back in the river" Murphy sighed as he pulled himself out of the murk, Rayman and Globox rose up next to him.

"Now where are we?" Globox asked.

"Just down the river from where we started" Rayman told them, he'd recognise that bridge anywhere, even if bits of the now destroyed factory did float around it.

"Hey what's that?" Murphy asked, pointing to a small tunnel leading off from the river.

"We could follow it" Globox suggested.

"Well…" Rayman looked around "it's either that or go back to the land and get captured again, let's go"

The three swam (flew in Murphy's case) into the tunnel. For a while they moved through darkness, and Rayman was sure he felt Ly, but soon after he knew he must have been mistaken, until eventually they came out into light. A loud banging had been spooking them all the way up, and now they knew what it was.

They stood; mouths open "So is how it happens!" Rayman exclaimed.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"This is totally not mellow man he's gonna escape" Romeo exclaimed as he and Sssssam ran through the undergrowth after the transport containing Mister Dark.

"Sssssslow down a little sssssspeedy," Sssssam panted behind him "I live in a sssssssssswamp and are not sssssssssssso agile on land asssssssss you"

"There's no time dude," the teensie doctor argued "we have to move and groove man"

They reached the clearing in time to see Dark leave his transport and enter the portal.

"Oh just not cool man"

"Sssssssssssshut up"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

They had just stumbled upon the real factory, creating the pirates. Machines churned and grinded, moulding out the shapes and fitting the parts together. A huge hand inserted a kind of green orb inside each head, before attaching it to a body, and then the robot instantly marched off to war.

"Now we know how they work," Murphy commented, "my guess is Doomand taught Dark how to create this, those orbs must be full of…"

"Hate," Rayman told him "hate, lies, deceit, everything bad that drives the machines to their cause, or rather, their commander's cause"

"Globox feel faint" Globox held his head.

"Don't give up now Glow we're almost there" Rayman remarked, pointing to a door, Dark had just walked out of it and behind it they could see a portal.

"Must be the same one we used," Murphy decided "only clever Mister Dark found the light switch, no wonder Mrs Dark left him"

"Did she?" Globox asked.

"Dunno, just guessing" Murphy murmured.

"We'll worry about Dark's past later," Rayman chipped in "though I am very interested in it, come on we gotta go"

The three crept round the side of the machine and to the portal. Dark didn't see them straight away, then he looked round and spotted Globox.

"STOP THEM!!!!" he yelled to his men.

"Oh great" Globox panicked.

"Globox has blown it again" Murphy sighed.

The three took a second to appreciate the portal room in the light, they quickly spotted the chute they fell down first time round, and then dived into the portal.

"Should we chase them sir?" a pirate asked.

"No no let them go," Dark replied, "they'll be back, I have something they may be interested in. Very interested in"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"It was like, a total storm dude," Romeo lied "thousands of pirates all over like, some kind of super army man, really wacky"

"Really?" Clark didn't sound convinced at all.

"Yeh, but like, well it was weird man, I kinda like, lost my normally mellow mind and destroyed them all with my FIGHTING COMBAT YEEEARRRGHH!!!"

"Whatever" Gumsi sighed.

"So where's Dark?" Pollukus asked.

"What? Oh man he like totally got away"

Sssssam sighed, then jerked his head up suddenly "Piratesssssssss"

"What?" everyone spun round to see three pirates approaching them.

"Huh, no problem," Clark laughed (he, Pollukus, Ly and Gumsi had successfully taken the stronghold but found nothing useful) "I'll take them, hang on Ly baby your superhero will save you"

Ly glared at him.

"Sorry" Clark groaned.

Suddenly the portal flashed and Rayman emerged from it. He dived at the pirates and sent his two fists flying at them. Each fist took out one pirate, then Rayman kicked the last one to pieces.

"Well," Pollukus remarked, "you know your entrances"

"Hero's return" Murphy laughed as he and Globox fell out of the portal.

"Rayman I'm so glad to see you're safe," Ly said, hugging him.

"Yeah little buddy," Clark said, "it's good to see you again"

"Tell me man," Romeo jumped in "what was it like behind that portal?"

"Strange," Murphy told him "it was strange"

"Yeh," Rayman agreed "very, but we're not finished with it, I have to go back there"

"You do?" Sssssam slithered in.

"I do," Rayman replied, "there's some unfinished business there"

"Plus," Pollukus arrived "there's something I need you to find"…

**To be continued…**


	4. Heat amongst the snow

Ok, here's chapter 4. Sorry I was so long updating. Oh, and the underline feature was getting awkward as far presentation went so I'm now using a series of Xs to show scene changes.

**Chapter four: Heat amongst the snow.**

Rayman heaved his way up the mountain, crawling because he seemed to find no better way of moving. A load rumbling, another avalanche! Rayman sighed, no way of dodging. The giant turrets of snow hit him, he tried to grab the patch of ground he had hold of, but eventually gave way and let the avalanche carry him. He tried to pull his way out but snow kept pushing him down, he felt himself drowning slowly. Then suddenly it was over, he lay, panting and gasping for breath, wondering how long he could really keep this up.

He looked around him, trying to locate his friends. He saw Murphy's feet sticking out of the ground, wriggling. He slid over to his sidekick and pulled him out of the thick snow.

"Whhat, huh, whu- where?" Murphy panted.

"Murphy" Rayman grinned, relieved to see him "you ok?"

"No!" Murphy yelled "but I'm alive. Stupid Emit Amulet, Pollukus won't even tell us what it is and he has us risking our lives trying to find it. Pah! Avalanches! Give me evil robots any day"

Rayman sighed, he knew what Murphy meant.

They'd made it back to their world after a nasty experience in the one they now stood in, and whilst Rayman was all for going back to find out more about Mr. Dark, he'd hoped to rest first. He had been woken from a siesta in the first place to begin this investigation come mission, and whilst he usually seemed to work better when woken up abruptly; he always liked to finish his rest as soon as possible.

No such luck!!!

Pollukus had asked Rayman, Ly, Globox and Murphy to travel to a section of the human world called Germany, and in particular a mountain region called the Alps. This was to find something, an artefact Pollukus had described, called the Emit Amulet. Apparently that had been what Pollukus was after when he accidentally opened the rift.

"_I sensed that in the near future we would require it's services, but it had been lost in that world many centuries ago. So I got five lums to help me open the void and retrieve it. The lums themselves vanished when the portal was opened, we have to find them too"_

"_This just gets more complicated by the minute doesn't it?" _was a quote that had Murphy written all over it.

So here they where, not even sure if they where in the right place. Gumsi had managed to send some Knaaren scouts through the portal, who had spotted that Dark had fled to what he described as "Factory two". The factory in Paris was apparently "Factory one".

"_We have to shut down these factories," _Pollukus had briefed _"only way"_

"_Dude, like, this machine really freaks me out" _Romeo brawled from where he stood, scanning a pirate head gem with his computer, trying to withdraw any information it may contain.

"_Just try to locate this "Factory two"" _Pollukus pleaded "_Dark had the Emit Amulet, I sensed it when I saw him, and if he's gone to "Factory two" that's where we must go"_

So, Rayman, Ly, Globox and Murphy had been sent here, where Factory 2 had been located, with orders to find Dark, take Emit Amulet, and destroy the factory core, therefore bringing the production to a halt, whilst the Freedom Five brought down Factory 1 in Paris.

"Globox excited to get started" 

His greenbottleness disagreed _"Time to go get ourselves shot" _proved his optimism.

So here they where.

Murphy flew up and hovered by Rayman's head "Where have Ly and Globox got to?"

"We're here" Ly's voice said.

The two looked up to see the fairy staring down at them from a small cliff, hands on hips, Globox was next to her.

"Are you two going to play snowballs all day or are we gonna go kick Dark's butt?" he asked.

Ly laughed at her friend's faces "come on," she said, "We found the factory"…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

General Doomand staggered out of his pod, he had landed at the top of the Eiffel Tower, where he wanted to end up, but the journey had been rough.

"Ugggh…" he staggered, then "errrhg… arrghh… ohhh…. Ahhh… uh… Oh Clemont you survived did you?"

"Yes sir," the small robot said, "after you abandoned me, I felt rather upset I'm not ashamed to admit. However, I am one trained in survival instincts"

"Yeh right" Doomand sighed.

"I was able to grab hold of my lampshade and ride it on the waves when they struck. Out of there, to safety"

"Great!" Doomand sighed, then upon realising his servant was still listening "oh, I mean, I'm glad"

Clemont sniffed again "Huh, you will be"

Doomand ignored him and stuck his hand into a small alcove in the wall.

A large hatch opened, Doomand walked inside and picked up a weapon that lay inside, Clemont was jumped by it, it was the size of a rifle, with a big purple tank attached to it and powers of energy clearly flowing through it.

"Sir, may I ask…"

"Go on"

"What is that?"

"This my little friend is the Annihilator, and you would do well not to annoy me when I'm holding it"

"I am sorry sir. What does it do?"

Doomand told him, and Clemont raised his eyebrows in shock.

"That is most devilish sir!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The Freedom five meanwhile had found a boardroom next door to the portal room in the Paris factory and had hidden in.

"Dude," Romeo quoted as he tapped away at his laptop "like, the core is miles in man, and heavily guarded by the big dudes, we need some kind of, like, mighty army to destroy it man"

"Yessssssssss but we don't have one do we" Sssssam told him.

There came a load explosion suddenly as one half of the wall collapsed and an army of hoodlums marched in. There where piles of them.

Leading them was a hoodlum whose costume consisted of red and white swirly patterns; Romeo, Gumsi, Clark and Sssssam readied themselves for a fight.

"Well, well what do we have here?" the lead hoodlum sneered.

"Stay back bud or I will crush you" Clark threatened.

"There's no need for that Clark," Pollukus said, walking foreword "Sarrago, I was worried"

"Pollukus!" Sarrago exclaimed, and then transformed back into his normal red lum appearance. The other hoodlums looked confused.

"What the…?" Gumsi commented.

"All they need is a little feeling," Pollukus grinned, "this is Sarrago, one of the lums who helped me open the void. I'm glad you're ok"

"It's good to see again too Pollukus," Sarrago said, "its been a long time"

"It's only been a day" Clark sighed.

"Listen," Pollukus looked at the army of hoodlums "We need your help…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Great," Murphy laughed "we find the factory, now how in the name of the lums do we get in?"

Globox and Ly had led Rayman and Murphy to a small vent in the snow, looking down through a manhole sealed with bars they could see and hear the machines creating the pirates, and even Dark yelling out commands, but there was no way of getting in from here.

"I don't know," Ly admitted, "we need to follow this a little and see if there's a main entrance"

"Then what?" Globox asked, "Do we knock?"

"Yeh," Murphy growled sarcastically "oh hello Mister Dark we're cold and lost may we come in for some Fea and Liscuits?" (**Note: that's not a spelling mistake, Fea and Liscuits are the way to relax in Rayman's world**)

"Globox joking" Globox sighed.

"You are a joke Globox" Murphy shouted.

"Shut up"

"You"

"No you"

"No you"

"No you"

"Er, calm down guys" Rayman tried to hush the two but it didn't work.

"You'd get your big fat blubber stuck in that manhole if you tried to squeeze down there" Murphy jeered.

"At least Globox would get that far," Globox returned "you couldn't even remove the bars with your puny little arms"

"Hah, mine are puny? Look at yours"

"Boys just, argh it's no use" Ly looked helplessly at Rayman, Rayman just shrugged.

Suddenly there came a scream from just over a small hill, the arguing glewt and greenbottle didn't hear, but Rayman and Ly did and quickly ran to see where it had come from.

They arrived on the edge of a steep cliff containing two very tall trees, down below they saw five humans, two male, three female, stuck in a small alcove in the side of an opposite cliff, sheltering from oncoming powerful avalanches.

One of the males spotted the hero and fairy and shouted something in his language, Rayman assumed it was "Please you gotta help us", in times of peril humans clearly didn't care who they asked for help.

Rayman looked around, there had to be something he could use.

The trees! 

"I have an idea" he explained it to Ly.

"But are they tall enough?" Ly asked.

"I hope so" Rayman replied.

"Ok," Ly said, "I'll do it, just be careful"

She shot a blast of magic at the tree; it toppled and created a bridge from the alcove to the cliff.

Rayman beckoned to the humans and they began to balance across the branch.

As they made their way along, one by one, Rayman suddenly spotted moving below them.

"Is that…? Oh no not now"

The three hoodlums below began shooting at the walkers; one of them slipped and began dangling from the edge of the stump.

"Rayman we gotta do something" Ly realised.

Seeing nothing else to do, Rayman jumped on the branch and made his way towards the humans.

"Be careful" he heard Ly yell.

Another hoodlum bullet hit the dangler, and he fell, screaming.

"Nooooo" Rayman yelled shooting his fist towards him.

He grabbed the man's hand "Hold on" he yelled.

"You speak French?" the man asked.

"Er yes" Rayman replied, not sure what the guy meant by French but at least he understood him.

"Good me too" the man said as he dangled from Rayman's detachable hand, clearly too scared for his life to care.

"I'll pull you up," Rayman shouted "just don't… JUST DON'T YANK!!!"

The man yanked accidentally leaving Rayman dangling from the tree and him dangling from Rayman's hand.

The hoodlums began shooting again; Rayman hauled the man up then threw his fist at one of them, the hoodlum changed into a black lum as the fist connected, and flew away. Suddenly there came a load rumbling and a gigantic mech that looked like it was made of spare pirate parts emerged from the ground.

"Oh my…" Ly couldn't finish as she watched from the cliff.

"What's going on here?" Murphy asked as he and Globox appeared, then he spotted the mech and fainted.

"Get out of here!" Rayman yelled, letting the humans get off the log before hauling himself up "I'll handle this"

The mech shot a long red laser at the log, Rayman ducked and it carried on over, sweeping the area, destroying the two hoodlums. As the two black lums tried to flee, Rayman remembered something. He quickly pulled a face at them, the startled black lums turned back into red ones.

The mech then launched a large fist at the log and blew it to bits; Rayman fell and landed in the snow on his back. He stood up panting, and threw his fist at one of the mech's legs, that was just sticking out of the hole that the robot had emerged from. The fist zipped through the leg and the machine collapsed, leaving behind a nice big hole that gave access to the factory.

"Nice work Rayman" Ly, Globox and Murphy appeared next to him, they'd clearly climbed down from the top of the cliff "I'm glad your ok" Ly added.

"Me too" Globox replied.

"I'm not" Murphy joked.

"That was quite a good fight you put up there powerful one," The red lums said floating down to them.

"Thanks guys," Rayman head "hey," he went on turning to the lums "who are you?"

"We are the lums who helped Pollukus open the rift to this world," one of the lums explained "I am Garento and this is Yupio"

"How did you become evil?" Globox asked.

"Don't say that in front of them" Murphy hissed.

"We where scared by our new surroundings," Yupio told them "we where transformed, then, well you know how rapidly we reproduce"

Rayman nodded, he did.

There where still a few answers needed, for example, they'd encountered hoodlums as well renowned enemies of the pirates only a few hours after the rift first opened, how they'd conjured a whole army and started a war in just that bit of time they wouldn't mind knowing, but that could wait. Together, the six turned and headed for the factory, and hopefully the Emit Amulet.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Six of Mister Dark's finest guards stood, guarding the factory core, the last line of defence for it. They knew the Freedom five where coming, and they where ready for them. There where two doors, one unguarded but tightly locked, the other heavily guarded but unlocked. The guarded one opened suddenly and the Teensie Doctor from the Freedom Five walked in.

The guards raised their guns "Hey man calm the arms dude"

"Oh yeh I forgot," one of the guards geared "Mr. Mellow"

"Aye aye man, mellow by name mellow by nature"

"Thought your name was Romeo"

"Mellow is my middle name"

"So wait, your name is Romeo Mellow… what's your last name?"

"Smith"

"Romeo Mellow Smith!?!?!?!?! Right…"

While all this had been going on Romeo had been edging his way towards the lever that opened the unguarded the door, he pulled it, and the army of hoodlums barged in, quickly taking the guards by surprise and destroying them.

"Right into the core room come on stat!" Pollukus yelled walking in with Clark, Sssssam and Gumsi behind him.

The Freedom five, plus Sarrago and his army, walked in. The core lay before them, a big pillar containing all the factories energy.

"How do we desssssssssssstroy that?" Sssssam asked.

"We have to deactivate it first," Gumsi said, "before we plant the explosives, that way we get ten minutes to escape"

"Like, how many do we get if just blow it up in smoke now?" Romeo asked.

"Ten seconds"

"Not cool man"

"So where are the explosives?" Clark asked, arriving with Pollukus.

"I gave them to the hoodlums" Pollukus replied.

"Well," Clark went on "I don't know how to tell you this but, the hoodlums are planting them and the core is active"

"WHAT!!!" Pollukus swung round, sure enough, "Sarrago stop them!"

Sarrago had dozed off and now suddenly noticed what the army was doing "Wait who told you to…"

"You are no longer one of us," a hoodlum hissed "we no longer follow your orders" the army teleported away.

"What! No"

The clock was ticking "10, 9, 8, 7…"

"Sarrago, Pollukus, do something" Clark yelled.

"Like?" The two accused asked.

"Teleport us out man" Romeo crowed.

"My powers are powered by lums," Pollukus replied "There aren't enough good ones in this world to fuel me"

"Sssssssssssarrago?" Sssssam turned to the lum.

"There needs to be at least three of us"

"6, 5, 4…"

"Well someone do something" Gumsi shouted.

"3, 2, 1…"

"As in?" everyone asked.

"Well…"

"0"

The base erupted.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The base was hot, and since the four who had just been rolling around the snow and could use a nice warm up found it too much they dreaded to think what the real temperature was.

The lums, typically, had now vanished leaving Rayman, Globox, Murphy and Ly to take out the factory.

"I mean," Mr Greenbottle moaned, "they have ultimate zappy energy power style stuff and they run off as soon as we need it"

"I'm sure they had a very good reason," Ly told him.

"Probably pruning their wings," Murphy grumbled.

"And you don't" Globox laughed.

"I don't"

"You do" Rayman laughed with his eyes wide.

"Its just a simple routine to make sure I look my Greenest" Murphy informed them.

"Well it isn't working is it" Globox remarked.

"You fat little…"

"Murphy!!!!" Ly warned.

"Come on," Rayman grinned "as funny as this is we still have a factory to destroy and an amulet to pick up" he walked foreword, then suddenly a trap door opened and he fell through onto a lower platform.

He went to stand up but suddenly a gun clicked to his head "Looking for this?" Dark jeered, waving the Emit Amulet in Rayman's direction from behind the pirate who held the gun.

Dark turned, amulet in hand, to walk away but Rayman punched through the pirate and leapt to his feet "No you don't Dark"

"Just try to stop me hero"

He turned to run, Rayman powered up his fist and threw it in the villain's direction, Dark turned around just in time to dodge, but the fist hit the amulet and sent it flying form his hand.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dark cried as the Emit Amulet fell off the edge of the platform.

Rayman swept past him and dived off the edge after it. Dark watched his enemy plummet below, and sneered. Not for long…

When Rayman had fallen into the trap door, Ly, Murphy and Globox had run to the hole to help him. Or rather, begun to run as suddenly they found themselves surrounded by pirates.

"Freeze!" one of the bots yelled.

Globox jumped sideways and fell onto a lower platform. The platform gave way and he fell into a large chute, he slid down the chute and landed on a bridge. The factory core lay before him, so did three pirates.

Ly and Murphy had also jumped to avoid gunfire and this time landed on a rail carrying pirate heads to their bodies to be. Ly managed to climb off, but Murphy got his foot stuck in one of the eyes. Ly looked ahead and saw how the heads and bodies where attached. A rather sharp machine dug itself into the heads and burned them onto the body. Ly realised it would kill Murphy if it got hold of him.

She saw her greenbottle friend trying to wriggle free and knew he wouldn't have a chance, quickly she shot a bolt of magic at the machine, the machine toppled, taking the entire post it was connected to with. The post was taller and stronger than the core, and it fell towards just that…

Globox raised his hands, suddenly he heard the sound of a helicopter above him, it stopped, and about a second later his limbless best buddy landed on one of the three pirates and knocked its head off. Rayman then used its ex-body to shield himself from another pirate's shot, and then leapt up, shot his fist at that pirate and his foot at another.

Both aggressors creaked to pieces, but when Rayman and Globox looked up they saw the post that Ly had knocked down coming straight for the core.

Pollukus had given Rayman some explosives for destroying the core (with strict rules) but the hero suddenly realised he wouldn't need them.

He also realised something else.

"Globox we gotta move!" he shouted and the two turned to run but before they could get very far the pillar hit the core.

Dark looked up just in time to see this.

The pillar hit the core, up went the factory.

**To be continued.**


	5. Old London Town

**Not really much to say this time so I'll say what everyone else does which is R&R (please do)**

**Chapter five: Old London Town**

Doomand's ship soared through the sky, he'd received a transmission about the destruction of the factories so was making his way, alone, towards their last base, Factory Three, hoping to find the emperor there.

He stroked the Annihilator that lay under his control panel and thought about the possibility that Dark had died in the eruption of one of the factories. The General's thoughts where mixed over that one. He'd hoped to kill the man himself, all the torment and dangerous jobs Dark had put him under whilst he took all the credit, Doomand had really wanted to look into his emperor's eyes as he died, and by the Annihilator of course, there was nothing finer.

Still, even if he didn't actually kill Dark, Doomand would still become the new emperor, and that was really what he wanted. The robot sat back, he would be the emperor, whether Dark was dead or whether he had to kill him himself it didn't matter.

Suddenly, Doomand heard the sound of a Teleporter in the back of his ship. That was weird, there was only one who could teleport to his ship and that was…

Excited, Doomand grabbed the Annihilator and ran to the back of his ship, Dark was lying there looking dazed, Doomand pointed the Annihilator at the emperor and prepared to shoot but Dark looked up.

"Doomand!" he snapped, "what are you doing?"

And for some reason Doomand dropped his weapon "Sorry sir," he said "I thought you where someone else"

_Why did I drop my defence? _He shouted at himself _Dark was there I could have destroyed him, why didn't I?_

"You idiot!" Dark yelled, breaking the chain of thoughts "you know I'm the only one who can teleport into your ship"

"I know sir," Doomand sighed, "it's just," _excuse excuse _"I heard you died," he came to "I thought maybe an enemy had got hold of your Teleporter"

Dark spat "apparently not. I managed to teleport out of the factory right before its destruction"

"Oh," Doomand smiled "good"

"Whatever," Dark muttered "get me to the factory, if the rat and his excuse for an army escaped they'll be targeting that next. Fortunately I have a plan to make sure they are crushed, this pathetic universe along with them, come on!!!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman awoke with his eyes shut, and he kept them shut. _No way I survived that, I'm dead, must be. _He opened his eyes slowly, he'd been given many things to expect in death, pearly gates, white lights, and he'd always wondered whether it was true. He'd always believed in the afterlife, and always considered the fact that maybe, once there, he'd be able to learn of his past.

He opened his eyes; he was lying on a cold stone floor with Globox, Murphy and Ly smiling down at him "We thought we'd really lost you that time" the fairy grinned.

"No way, you mean…" they where still alive "but how?"

The freedom five, plus Garento, Yupio and another lum where standing near them "Our little saviours here" Pollukus pointed to the lums.

"Yeh where did those two get to?" Rayman asked.

"We sensed a distress signal from Sarrago here," Yupio pointed to the third lum "so we teleported to Paris and he was able to teleport everyone out to here…"

"Hold it," Pollukus interrupted "you three didn't do the teleporting, I teleported us, I was able to harness the energy of the three of you to get us out. I couldn't do that with just Sarrago's power but when you two arrived I had enough"

"No we did the teleporting," Garento assured him "Sarrago couldn't teleport you all alone but when we arrived we where able to work together to get you all out"

"I teleported you out" Pollukus argued.

Rayman slapped his forehead.

"I don't believe this" Ly sighed.

"You mean to say man" Romeo started.

Clark finished "both the lums and Pollukus teleported us out?"

The lums and Pollukus glared at each other.

"Oh no not a lum fight" Murphy sighed.

"Knock 'em out" Globox yelled.

"GLOBOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!" everyone yelled.

"The important thing is that we're all alive!!!!!!!" Gumsi shouted, resulting in a long silence.

Sssssam eventually broke it with "Yessssssssss that issssssssss true"

"Anyway," Yupio carried on "we teleported the five here, then went back to Germany for you four, just in time I think"

"Well, thanks" Rayman thanked them.

"No problem" Garento replied.

"Don't mind me asking," Rayman went on "but where are we?"

"A place called London," Ly told him "the lums located a third and final factory here, we have to take it out"

"That reminds me," Rayman laughed, he took out the Emit Amulet "I got it"

Pollukus took it.

"Now will you tell us what in the name of the lums ("_ooo thank you" the lums grinned_) that thing does?" Murphy yelled.

"Rayman…" Pollukus went on.

"Oh of course!" Murphy sighed "there's another catch isn't there?"

"This is only half of the Emit Amulet, Dark must have dismantled it"

Murphy sighed.

"Ok," Rayman groaned, "I'll get it"

"Will the Amulet work with just one half?" Ly asked.

"No," Pollukus replied "which is why we have to get the other bit back, and why Dark will want this bit, unless…" Pollukus looked scared suddenly, the lums seemed to share this.

"Unless what dude?" Romeo asked.

"… he's planning to open it"

"What's wrong with that?" Rayman asked, Pollukus didn't answer so the hero moved onto something else that had been bothering him "I need to ask you lums something"

"Name it Ray"

"We saw out first Hoodlums only a few hours after the rift first opened, and you where already many and well established enemies of the pirates. I know you reproduce fast, but how did you manage all that so quickly?"

"Globox impressed by your speed" Globox praised.

"Only 'cos you're as slow as…"

"MURPHY!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Sorry"

"Wait," Garento jumped in "how long was it between the rift opening and you meeting us?"

"Few hours"

"Oh…" Sarrago hovered a little; Pollukus closed his eyes "it's just that… we've been here for seven years…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The city that the team was now in was, as the lums said, called London. London was the capital of England, and England was one of four countries that made up the content Britain. Britain lay across an ocean to France.

The other three countries that made up Britain where Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (the rest of Ireland was not part of Britain, and the reason why does not come into this story).

Wales made up Britain's northern coastline, and a lot of the beaches where known as the Pembrokeshire beaches (my dad was born in Pembrokeshire and if you ever get the chance to go there they are brilliant places), and on one Pembrokeshire beach lay a small rock pool.

In this small rock pool there stood a small robot wearing a pink apron, the small robot looked rather put out as his foot was stuck under a rock and he couldn't move it.

A young boy, who had wandered up from the beach with his bucket and spade, spotted the robot and approached it. Now this small boy was two years old, and his two years on Earth had been mostly spent in front of the magic box watching shows along the line of Power Rangers™ and Transformers® so, unlike many humans, he saw nothing unusual about the small robot standing in the rock pool. On the other hand, this was first small robot (or to be precise, the first robot of any size) he'd actually seen himself, in particular with one foot in a Pembrokeshire rock pool, so he felt inclined to talk to it.

Now despite the unusualness of the situation, he started off with a pretty usual question. Well, not so much usual in Earth's great scheme of things, but usual for someone to ask when they've just seen a robot (whether it's got one foot in a Pembrokeshire rock pool or not has nothing to do with the equation).

The question was "Are you a robot?"

Clemont looked up, surprised to have someone speak to him "Yes I believe I am" he replied, a little put out to be asked such an obvious question when he couldn't think of anything else he could possibly be, but his argument circuits where wet and wouldn't work.

Now, when humans (or any race really) meet someone the first time they begin to wonder things about them like "Are they friendly? Do they like peanuts? Are they thinking of hitting me around the head violently?" and depending on what it is they are wondering they may or may not ask. Now, when a member of one race meets a member of another race, they often ask a different series of questions. For example, say the race is renowned for being big Nobby's nuts fans they may go as far as to ask, "Do you enjoy Nobby's nuts?" and this situation was a perfect example. Whilst in general robots are not known for being fans of Nobby's nuts they are for being killers, as far as the little kid in question was concerned.

So, in a true example of what I've been saying, his next question was "Are you a killer robot?"

Clemont sniffed "killing is a ghastly, filthy business," he told the kid "though I do work for an evil killer robot overlord"

"Ooo," the boy was interested "who?"

"His name is General Doomand, very nice master, though a little clumsy. Do you know why I'm here? I'm here because my rather brilliant master accidentally kicked me out of his hover car"

The boy was transfixed.

"Anyway would you be so kind as to help me out of this horribly wet rock pool?"

"No," the boy spat "I don't like killer robots you kill people" and he walked away, leaving Clemont pretty much lost for words.

(**Sorry about that**)

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Big Ben, London's trademark clock tower, lay by the side of the river that ran through the city, the Thames. The river itself reminded Rayman of the one in Paris, dirty and full of litter, though this one was probably worse. The gang had followed a pod they'd seen speeding through the city, setting off quite a riot among the civilians, but exactly what they had said when the team darted past them about two minutes later was unknown as they had yet another new communication language.

The squad where crouched under a bridge, watching a big building opposite the clock that the pod had entered. Romeo's laptop had located Dark, Doomand and the final Emit Amulet piece inside the pod and once again plans where to be made. They would swim into the building, which was obviously Factory Three, where the lums would cause a riot with the guards, whilst the Freedom Five took down the core, and Rayman, Globox, Murphy and Ly rescued the Amulet before Dark could open it.

"All he'll need is a powerful substance like a large gun or something and it'll open" Pollukus told them as they swam (hovered for those who could) towards the large flooded passage they saw leading into the factory.

"Listen oh creator," Murphy argued "we're not doing anything until you tell us why Dark shouldn't open this thing"

Pollukus was quiet for a second, and then he said, "I hope you never know"

Murphy sighed "alright, me, Rayman, Globox and Ly aren't going anywhere until you tell us. ISN'T THAT RIGHT?"

Rayman, Ly and Globox ignored him.

"Fine," Murphy sighed, "I'm staying here then"

He was ignored.

"…"

"Wait for me!" he followed them in.

"Hey, Pollukus," Gumsi approached him "just out of interest, why can't you just teleport us straight to the core?"

"Too much darkness," Pollukus replied, "I can teleport out of shadows but not into them"

"It would be ssssssssssssssomething like that" Sssssam swam alongside them.

The army entered the factory and came out in a huge hanger. There where many pirates, and the Pod was sitting, docked.

The twelve climbed out of the water and hid behind some barrels, they saw Dark and Doomand talking to some pirates who held large flamethrowers, then the two began to walk towards a high security door. They both stuck cards into a box nearby it and walked in.

"Quick!" Pollukus turned to Rayman, Ly, Murphy, Globox and the Lums "before it shuts"

The lums darted out into the hanger and began throwing their energy at the pirates. There was immediate panic.

Dark and Doomand looked around to see Rayman, Globox, Murphy and Ly running towards them.

"You'd have to be here wouldn't you!" Dark screamed.

"Give me that Amulet!!" Rayman yelled.

"Hold them Doomand" Dark commanded, and then darted down the passage behind the door.

"Catch him Rayman, we'll handle the General" Ly shouted, Rayman nodded and high tailed it after Dark.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Clark saw Ly, Globox and Murphy swarmed by many pirates, but more where attacking his Freedom Five members as they ran over to a small terminal directly opposite the fighters. He was torn as to which side to help.

"Shouldn't we help our little buddies over there?"

"They'll be alright," Gumsi replied as Romeo hooked his laptop up to the terminal "our mission is our own"

The pirates flew backwards as Ly sent beams of fatal magic into them, the lums swarmed over to help. Deciding they'd be all right Clark ran to the terminal. With just a few clicks of the mouse, Romeo had downloaded all the relevant information it contained.

"What doesssssss it ssssssssay doctor?" Sssssam asked.

"Yo like man, this is just, so totally wacky"

"Just tell us Romeo" Gumsi growled.

"Well man its just like…"

"ROMEO!!!!" that was the other four.

"Floor six in the elevator dude"

"Ok"

Over to the elevator, the five packed in, Clark turned to see the battle, and it was in their favour. Then the door pinged shut and the elevator made its way towards the core.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman darted through the winding passage, Dark up ahead.

"Still hanging in their Ray-boy?" Dark taunted.

"You're not getting away Dark!" Rayman yelled "I'm gonna catch you, rescue the Amulet, find out who you really are, then destroy you once and for all to finish off"

"You can try kid" his enemy replied, "but you won't succeed"

He shot his gun at a switch, the switch opened a trap door beneath Rayman, and he tumbled into it.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The factory core was unguarded, and this made the Freedom Five uneasy. It was the same as the other two cores, towering above them from the centre of the pit. The only way to get into physical contact was to go along a very narrow bridge that would require balancing skills.

"Right," Pollukus took out the explosives intended for the French core "let's do it right this time, who's balancing?"

"Romeo" said Clark, Sssssam and Gumsi.

"Gumsi" said Romeo, then "Oh man" when he realised the votes where slightly against him.

"Go on then" Pollukus threw the explosives at him.

"Aw man I er, I, I can't balance dude it's like totally not my style"

"At leasssssssssst you have feet" Sssssam told him.

"At least you're not overweight" Clark told him.

"And I'm too important" Gumsi told him.

"Fine," Romeo muttered and began to crawl along the bridge/pole sighing to himself "totally not groovy"

He began to crawl towards the core; suddenly a large robotic snake with steel teeth rose from the bit and snarled at the doctor "Oh man not good"

"Hold on Romeo" Pollukus shot a beam of light at the snake; it bounced of the steel body "ah"

"Man no" the snake swiped at Romeo and he tumbled off the pole, clinging on with one hand, explosives in the other.

"DON'T DROP THE EXPLOSIVES!" Clark yelled.

Romeo began to make his way hand-over-hand towards the core, monkey-bar style, with the explosives between his legs. The snake came at him again and he only just swung out of the way.

"He has to have a week spot," Gumsi shouted, shooting rapid bullets from his staff, each one rebounding and almost killing Sssssam.

Suddenly another snake arose from the other side of the pole to the one that the first snake was on.

"Man totally worse"

The newcomer launched himself to bite Romeo, Romeo swung out of the way, the second snake kept going and ended up trapping the first snake (who had also closed in on Romeo) in his mouth. The thing was, the second snake's steel teeth had dug into the first snake's body and where now wedged tightly into it, leaving both snakes stuck together.

Whilst the two monsters wriggled around, Romeo crawled to the core, deactivated it, then planted the explosives.

The Ten-minute count down they could have had in Paris but didn't began.

"Hurry Romeo!" Pollukus yelled.

Romeo quickly monkey-barred back along the pole, past the down on their luck snakes, and the five began to run to the elevator. Just as they where reaching it, it pinged, and a pirate stepped out.

"Stop right there" he commanded.

The five prepared to fight him, but a bullet shot past and hit him before they could start. A hoodlum stood behind them.

"Pirates on their last legs," he laughed, "the age of the hoodlums can begin"

Two hoodlums appeared behind him, one was a grenadier so he naturally chucked a grenade at the five. The five leapt towards the elevator but for some reason it wasn't there and they tumbled down the empty shaft.

"Self destruct in seven minutes"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Dark stormed into his office, the half of the Emit Amulet in his hand. A pirate stood by the desk.

"What's going on?" Dark snapped angrily.

"The factory has seven minutes left until destruction, Hoodlums have broken in, all our forces in the hangar are wiped out" the pirate replied.

"Gnarrhhhgahhhalllrh!!!" Dark yelled, slamming his half of the Amulet down on the desk "WHERE'S DOOMAND?"

"Vanished," the soldier told him "though he was down in the hangar, so there's a chance he could have been eliminated"

Dark swore, and then pointed his gun at the Emit Amulet.

Suddenly the door opened and a face Dark didn't want to see ran in.

"Oh you made it did you?"

"Trap door sends me down a few floors?" Rayman laughed, "You have a brilliant escalator service thank you Mister Dark"

"Oh well," Dark cackled, "you're too late anyway"

Rayman saw what Dark planned to do and jumped at his enemy, shouting "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo" but it was too late.

Dark shot the Amulet, the bullet hit it, the half flipped open like a book, and a strange, eerie blue light erupted from it. Rayman rolled onto the office floor.

"DARK, YOU IDIOT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Dark didn't answer, just activated his Teleporter, and vanished. The soldier he left behind advanced on Rayman, but was no match for his fists.

The light was flooding the room, and Rayman was now finding it hard to see, what was inside the Emit Amulet?

"Self destruct in two minutes"

Rayman ran to the window, but the glass was reinforced and even if he did manage to smash it, it was a good 70ft drop to the concrete London road below. His helico wouldn't last long enough to give him a soft landing, and If he tried to conserve it he'd go into a kind of falling trance and wouldn't be able to use it when it was needed.

He turned back, but was blinded by blue light.

"Self destruct in one minute"

Suddenly a blast of magic flew past Rayman's face, smashing the window. He looked back at the smashed glass, and saw a helicopter hovering outside it, with Ly, Globox and Murphy piloting.

"Jump in partner" Murphy yelled, Rayman didn't need telling twice.

"What happened?" he asked Ly as the copter flew away from the factory.

"We destroyed all the forces," Ly told him "but Doomand escaped somewhere"

"What have you been doing?" Globox asked.

Rayman pointed at the blue light billowing from the window of Dark's office and quickly covering the sky nearby.

"Nasty" Murphy commented.

At that point the factory erupted, the open half of the Emit Amulet flew past the copter and landed in the street below.

"Come on" Ly grinned, and Globox (who was driving the copter (he had a knack for vehicles as he had proved during the Hoodlum's invasion of their world with a boat and a hover-car)) lowered the plane towards where the light was now rooting.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

When the factory erupted, the Freedom Five had just left the dump area that the shaft had led them to. They'd awoken in a pile, all on top of each other, when the three lums had arrived and announced that Dark had opened the Emit Amulet.

The eight hurriedly left the dump just in time, and followed the light to where the Amulet half had landed.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

It was an open square, so Globox had no problem steering the copter in for a good view. The small half Emit Amulet lay in the centre of the square, and the light was now flooding all areas around it.

People where crowding around it, and then looked at something coming in towards them, mouths open. The pilots realised that it was the Freedom Five and the lums.

Globox landed the copter, and the four ran to their friends, letting of more shocked looks from the Londoners as they went.

"Alright Pollukus," Murphy chipped in "now you HAVE to tell us what's going on"

Pollukus was just staring at the Amulet. Rayman noticed Dark run into the square as well, but for some reason he didn't attempt to attack Dark, though he felt like it more than he felt anything else at the time.

"What's inside it?" Ly asked, "What's coming?"

"An immortal being has been summoned to this world" Pollukus choked.

"Who?" Globox asked.

"Its guardian," Pollukus cried "the protector of the portals"

A giant claw suddenly erupted from the light; it slammed down on the floor, sending vibrations everywhere. People began to run, screaming.

Dark fell to his knees.

Behind the claw, there slowly emerged a body. A body taller than Big Ben itself.

Pollukus said one thing "Barrig".

The others simply gasped, as the blue light slowly disappeared, and Barrig, guardian of the Emit Amulet, took form…

**To be continued.**


	6. The Guardian Of Time

**It should be noted that this is really the last chapter. There is a seventh one, but it's more just an epilogue clearing everything up. R&R**

**CHAPTER SIX: The Guardian Of Time**

"May the lums protect us" Pollukus cried as the creature rose above them.

"Actually we were really considering getting out" Sarrago said.

"I meant it in a spiritual way" Pollukus replied.

The three lums looked at him.

"Never mind" he replied.

The people where still running, Rayman's eyes where fixed on the monster that rose, high above the tallest building in sight, miles high, higher than anything our hero had seen before. His legs were bony, yet the bones where strong, his toes where crooked, but the corners where sharp. He towered over everything; his body spurted out from his waist, a massive six-pack that continued into huge muscles and sharp claws and the end. His scaly neck, then finally his face. His pointed nose, his deep, fiery red eyes, the eyes that stared down at all they could see, which was a lot, and struck fear in all. Made you want to run, hide, run to whatever was comfort, yet when you got there it didn't feel like comfort anymore because those eyes would still be with you, they'd suck you in, keep you locked in, make you fall, burn in the flames, sizzle to a pulp, die inside. If you once looked into the eyes of Barrig, guardian of the Emit Amulet.

Dark was still on his knees, staring up at Barrig, arms outstretched "I released you," he yelled, laughing, "I released you, with your power I will be unstoppable"

It then became clear that Barrig did not share that dream. He launched his foot towards Dark and the emperor only just dodged. Barrig advanced on Dark, his feet squashing the cars and benches he passed like a human accidentally squashes an ant. Dark had reached a building, he turned to run, but Barrig was oncoming, his body surrounding Dark on his own, there was no escape. Dark knelt down and pleaded for his life as Barrig prepared for the final blow to the man who saved him from his cell.

Meanwhile, Rayman had spotted the missing half of the Emit Amulet (the one Barrig had come from) lying in the centre of the square where it had landed. Hurriedly he jumped up and ran to it, Pollukus spotted what he was doing and shouted for him to stop but Rayman didn't hear the warning until too late. He snatched up the half, Barrig sensed it, and turned on him. Dark, realising he was saved, collapsed on the pavement. Barrig walked up to Rayman and stared down at him, Rayman looked back, then took one part of the Amulet in each hand and raised them above his head.

"Rayman get out of there!" Ly yelled.

As Barrig went to land his claw on the hero, Rayman joined the two pieces of the Amulet. A bolt of energy shot from the centre of the new-formed Amulet, where the two joined, and struck Barrig. Barrig staggered back, roared, and stormed off, leaving careless destruction in his wake.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Murphy erupted.

"When the universes where created," the lums explained "the Emit Amulet was created to," they looked at Pollukus, Pollukus shook his head, they turned back to the others "to, erm, allow passage between them. But when they where, well, all connected… Barrig was born… erm, within the void between them"

"They're lying" Murphy whispered.

"Barrig became a danger to each world, travelling throughout them and destroying each one. So, we imprisoned him in the Emit Amulet, praying he would never be realised. Now that he has been, our only hope is to re-imprison him inside the Amulet"

On the Emit Amulet there were three buttons. A huge one, and two small ones, one above the big one (used to separate the two parts), and one below. Garento pointed to the small one below the big one "Find Barrig," he instructed "find Barrig and press that to re-imprison him, good luck hero"

"Thank you" Rayman replied, and hurried off in the direction Barrig had gone.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The last remaining pirates had run out into the streets of London, only to be bombarded by a whole army of Hoodlums, resulting in a war across the city. Something you must know is that there weren't as many Hoodlums as everyone thought, there where only around two hundred at most. Thing was, they where much harder to kill than pirates as once they returned to Black Lum mode only about 1 ever actually got shot, so the pirates had hardly killed any over the years. There had, on the other hand, been thousands of pirates, and compared to how many there'd been at one point two hundred where very few, and that was about how many there where now, with no factories left to create any more.

So, London was now a battlefield with the two sides shooting at each other from all over the place and a huge monster stalking the city. To confuse matters more, the human army had shown up and seemed to be shooting at anything that moved, panic was everywhere with the now three sets of gunfire.

Globox, Murphy, Ly and the Freedom Five had become fugitives, with all three out to kill them. The human army had begun to evacuate stranded humans in helicopters, and at one point they tried to board. All that happened though was the human army pointing their guns at them and saying something that they could guess translated to "Back off". They then remembered that they where alien in this world, and for the very first time since coming here they felt lost. Alone. Hunted. They truly where a long way from home.

Barrig wasn't on anyone's side. He crashed through the city, destroying anything that got in his way whether it was pirate, hoodlum or human. He had been away too long, trapped within the Emit Amulet, and had forgotten most of his earlier life. He could remember searching for something, he wasn't sure what, but to find it he remembered destroying. Destroying was all he knew. So destroy he did. Within minutes of him leaving Rayman a good half of London was in ruins to his name, houses burnt, shops crumbled, towers collapsed, as the monster made his way through, not planning on stopping until everything lay in dust.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sarrago, Garento and Yupio meanwhile had hidden in a small alley near a makeshift base a group of hoodlums had set up.

"They'll be killed," Garento shouted, "by pirates, humans, or Barrig it doesn't matter, we have to help them"

"They betrayed me," Sarrago replied, referring to the incident in Paris "they tried to kill me, why should I help them?"

"The hoodlums tried to kill you in Paris," Yupio told him "we want to save the good lums that where turned into them, through their own fear"

A bullet flew at them and they only just dodged, a pirate stood on a roof over looking the alley. The three lums fled back out into the street, and came face to face with a blockade made up of about ten hoodlums.

"Come on Sarrago," Garento went on as the blockade advanced "you've been a black lum, we all have, you know they can't help what they do"

"I suppose" Sarrago replied.

"Come on, they're our friends, our off springs, our fellow lums we can't let them die" Yupio pleaded.

"Ok" Sarrago sighed, and the three lums shone with light energy. The light energy combined and shot into the hoodlums. Their costumes vanished, and so did their black fur. Where ten hoodlums once stood, ten red lums now sat.

The three that had rescued them panted, tired out after their work. It had taken the ultimate energy of the three of them to do that.

One of the newly restored red lums went to speak but suddenly the pirate that had been on the roof appeared behind their saviours.

"Perfect," he commented, "now stand there, wings up, this won't take a second"

He readied his gun, Sarrago, Yupio, and Garento had no energy to fight back. Just before the pirate could shoot however, the ten other lums where upon the pirate, their energy blasting into him, the robot creaked with pain.

Suddenly, Barrig appeared. His foot swung past, smashing the pirate into tiny bits carelessly. He hadn't even noticed. His feet hit Sarrago, Yupio and Garento in just one stomp, the others attempted to help but it was two late. The lums where gone. They just vanished into the cataclysm of the universes. Lost.

Barrig was gone as fast as he had arrived. The ten lums fled off in separate directions, not to escape, but to rescue their surviving brothers, to avenge the deaths of the three fallen. Well, not deaths as much. Lums didn't die; they just departed from their world…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman charged through the streets. He couldn't see Barrig, but the monster hadn't exactly been difficult to track. Wherever there was ruin, there had been Barrig.

Pirates, hoodlums and humans shot at him as he ran but he kept going. He couldn't waste time fighting them; he knew he had to catch Barrig before any of this could be healed. Cars on fire flew at him, the human civilians had now begun rioting which added to the confusion (and no doubt was born of it). London was on the high road to destruction, and Rayman could guess the rest of this world was if he didn't move. To add to his conscience, he somehow felt that if this world suffered so would his. He guessed his friends felt it too, what else kept him and them from fleeing to its safety?

His hero instincts had failed him; he didn't want to do this anymore. He wanted to be back at the fairy council, with Globox, Murphy and Ly, on a sunny day, sitting on the grass of a river bank. Hear the animals chattering to each other, feel the sunlight on the back of his head, feel safe and content. Here, safe was the last thing he could feel, all he felt inside was darkness, what he could remember of his past dwelling heavily on his mind, the pain, the torture, the darkness. What Dark had said, about it being Rayman's fault he had no face. Now here he was with complete human features. What was going on?

_Who am I? What have I done? _He cried in his thoughts as they overwhelmed him and he hit the ground of the city that was tearing itself apart around him.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The ten lums swept throughout the city, seeking out the remaining hoodlums and rescuing them from their dark fate. They ran into Barrig more than once, but the number of pirates was slowly decreasing, whilst scrap metal was on an all time high. Before long, red lums swarmed the city, picking off the remaining pirates and destroying them. Barrig, however, remained. There was only one who could stop him, and it wasn't the one who currently possessed the Emit Amulet…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The Freedom Five, along with Globox, Murphy and Ly, swept through the city.

"Come on guys we gotta get out of here somehow" Murphy yelled.

"You guys go on," a deep voice replied "Globox going to look for Rayman"

"What?" everyone stopped and looked at Globox, who stood facing the direction Barrig had gone.

"Globox not leaving his best buddy"

"What?" Gumsi exploded "Globox, you'll be killed, we have to escape"

"Yeh," Murphy backed the king up "Rayman wouldn't want that"

"Rayman would go back for us," Globox argued, "so Globox go back for Rayman"

Romeo began spluttering "but… I… Dude… We… Er… I… Man I…"

"Globox is right," Ly walked in "I have faith in Rayman but I'll help him in any way I can. I'm going with Globox"

"Me too" Pollukus cheered.

"And me" Clark joined in.

"Don't forget about me," Sssssam volunteered.

"Er… I… well… Ok man I'm coming too" Romeo announced.

Murphy and Gumsi shrugged, and followed.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman awoke to the sounds of guns and rioting. People shooting, swearing, cursing. He stood up, he saw Barrig a few blocks away from where he was, and began to run. Everyone was too preoccupied in his or her own role in the city's chaos to notice him. Barrig stood beside the river, preparing to jump it to reach the other side.

Just as he was about to leap, Rayman ran in "Oi Barrig!!"

Barrig turned "Well," he said, surprising the hero, as he hadn't thought Barrig could speak "what have we here? Who are you little limbless one?"

Rayman laughed "I don't know," he replied triumphantly, he'd got to grips with that much at least, "but I know what I'm doing," he threw the Emit Amulet at Barrig, pressing the button as he let it go "go get 'im" he yelled.

"Nooooo," Barrig howled, but Rayman could tell he was acting "don't send me back in there"

The Amulet hit him, it opened a little smoke, smoke swept out, but nothing happened to Barrig. The smoke vanished, the Amulet shut, and dropped to the floor at the monster's knees.

"WHAT!!!!" Rayman yelled.

Barrig laughed "If only it where that easy. You do not have the power to re-imprison me. I was ordered out of my cell by one, and only he who gave that order can send me back in"

"Dark!" Rayman realised "only Dark can re-imprison you"

"Glad you reached your senses boy," Dark sneered, appearing out of the riots, his gun pointed at Rayman "the fate of both worlds rests in my hands"

He picked up the Emit Amulet from where it had fallen and tossed it up and down with one hand "Let's show Barry the way shall we"

He pressed the large button on the Amulet, light, the same light that the portals where made of, shot from it and created one by the side of the destroyed road.

"Shall we say," Dark spoke into the Amulet "Candy Chateau, 4142 your world's years?"

The portal appeared.

Rayman went to say something but the words never quite came.

"Come with me Barrig," Dark offered, his arm outstretched to the giant "into their world"

"Don't listen to him Barrig" Rayman yelled, but he knew it'd be no use.

"Together Barrig," Dark went on convincingly "we can destroy both worlds, then rebuild them, rebuild them in our image. Work together the two of us could be unstoppable, your strength and my knowledge. Not even the lums could prevent us"

Barrig hummed "I like it"

"No!" came a yell, Rayman volleyed over Dark's head and landed between the madman and the portal "Don't do this Dark! Barrig will betray you! Once you've done all that you can, he'll kill you and take what you've achieved for himself. It's not too late to turn back Dark, make everything right; it's never too late. Use the Emit Amulet, re-imprison Barrig, do what only you can do"

Dark pointed his gun at the hero "Don't try it, it won't work"

"It's over Dark," Rayman went on "only you and Barrig are left now, the pirates are gone, look, the sky's full of red lums (_it was_), don't carry it on Dark. Surrender while you can still make things right again!"

"No" Dark yelled, and was about to pull the trigger of his gun when two blasts of magic shot from nowhere and hit him. Dark was sent flying; his gun flew out of his hands. Barrig swung round to see where it had come from.

The blasts had come from Pollukus and Ly, who stood with the other six (overall there was the Freedom Five and three others) on the street corner.

"Hi Rayman," Globox cheered "that's my friend" he shouted to anyone listening, which was no one.

"Hi all," Rayman yelled "thanks for coming back"

"Nah we couldn't leave you Rayman," Murphy laughed "all these dangers, you wouldn't last a second without your swat team"

Rayman laughed, and smiled at Ly "I wouldn't have got very at all without you all"

"I don't like to break this very touching little moment," said a new voice.

Everyone swung round, Doomand climbed out of the river, clutching a large gun.

"Oh you survived eh?" Ly said coldly.

"Doomand!" Dark yelled, "destroy these worms"

"I will," Doomand replied, advancing on Dark, who lay sprawled on the floor still "but first, I want to show you this, the Annihilator!"

"The what?" Dark exclaimed, "I didn't order a production of…"

"I created it myself," Doomand sneered, walking right up to his emperor "in secret. First, it takes you through great pain, second, it strips you of your features, except eyes, I thought eyes would help identify the bodies, third, it burns you apart limb by limb, and finally, this is the bit I like, finally, it kills you" he cackled.

"Well shut up and use it on them" Dark yelled.

"No," Doomand sniggered "I'd rather use it on you"

"Wha…" a purple, electrical blast shot from the Annihilator, Dark rose into the air and shrieked in pain.

He had kept hold of the Emit Amulet when Pollukus and Ly had shot him, but now it fell to the floor. Dark howled and cried out for help as Doomand sniggered loudly.

"What the? Man I'm confused" Romeo commented.

"For too long have I been your hired gun Dark," Doomand yelled "for too long have I commanded your armies, fought your battles, killed your enemies, whilst you take all the credit and royalties. Well it ends now. With you gone I will be the emperor. I will rebuild the factories, or create a new army all together if I have to. I will destroy Rayman and his stupid little friends. I will avenge the Admiral Razorbeard. Me, Emperor Doomand!"

"You traitor!!!" Dark cried.

"Rayman do something," Ly pleaded running to his side "even Mister Dark doesn't deserve this!"

Rayman looked at his old enemy, betrayed, weak, Barrig just standing there, occasionally hobbling and staggering, Dark's only remaining "ally" not even moving to help him. Still, after Rayman's history with Dark (some which he didn't think he knew) the hero saw no motive to help him. Except for Ly. And Rayman knew Ly could make him do anything, absolutely anything.

Rayman charged at Doomand, building up his fist, and then he swiped at the pirate, knocking him over. The gun fell to the floor, so did Dark, howling.

"Protect me!" he yelled "Protect me I'll do anything"

Rayman turned to face Doomand; Doomand picked up his Annihilator and shot at Rayman. Rayman dived to avoid the blast, sending another fist towards Doomand as he fell. Doomand leapt at Rayman, Rayman rolled out of the way, and the General hit his head on the floor. Doomand grabbed his Annihilator and took another pot shot at Rayman. Rayman rolled out of the way and realised his mistake too late. The blast shot past where he'd been and hit Dark, who was just standing up.

"Perfect" Doomand cackled.

"This is your fault Rayman" Dark cried as he was once again overcome with the pain.

"Rayman help him," Ly screamed but Rayman stood static, something Dark had said had frozen him to the spot.

_This is your fault Rayman._

_It was you that did this me! It's your fault I'm like this!_

"It can't be" Rayman gasped.

The Annihilator was doing what Doomand said it would, Dark had taken the pain, and as it continued, Dark's features where vanishing. His clothes had snapped off, and a dark blue substance was cloaking his body, except the yellow eyes. Dark continued to scream and curse Rayman.

"Impossible!" the hero gasped.

With Dark's body completely blue except the eyes, his limbs began to vanish. Rayman couldn't believe it. Appearing in front of him was the Mister Dark he had known, the Mister Dark who had kidnapped the Great Protoon. The Mister Dark who had blamed him for how he looked, Rayman had just witnessed how it was his fault. Dark's past, Rayman's future. But how?

"Rayman!" Ly cried.

Dark's limbs where now gone, and Doomand moved in for the final kill. It was at that point that Barrig fell. He just toppled, though everyone should have expected it, the way he was staggering. He collapsed, one of his giant claws landed on Doomand, slicing the robot in half. Doomand dropped the gun, and an almost dead and very different Dark fell to the floor.

Doomand lay sizzling. His life support circuits had been smashed and he was slowly going offline. Everyone else was more interested in Dark and Barrig.

"Man what happened to him?" Romeo asked.

"The Amulet!" Pollukus replied, pointing to where it had landed when Dark had dropped it.

It had smashed into pieces, clearly from being thrown around too much.

"Nassssssssssty" Sssssam remarked.

"He thought he was free," Pollukus went on "but get trapped with it once, your fate is forever bound by it"

Clark and Gumsi nodded.

Rayman meanwhile confronted Dark, the real Mister Dark. In his opinion anyway.

Without his hat and cloak he looked a little strange, but put them on him and he would look the way he had when Rayman met him the first time. Dark was still weak after his ordeal, but he was alive. He crawled over to the portal, then stood up and pointed his now limbless hand at Rayman (had Doomand continued the assault the rest of his body would have burnt away too but since it had stopped in the early burning stage he was left limbless) "You will pay for this Rayman" he leapt into the portal.

Rayman turned round to his friends, Ly, Globox, Murphy, Clark, Pollukus, Romeo, Sssssam and Gumsi.

He grinned and nodded at the portal "Shall we?"

"Lead the way Ray" Murphy laughed, they filed into it. The humans could take it from there.

Doomand was left under Barrig's claw. Dying.

"Oh well" he sighed, knowing this was it.

He let his head drop back on the pavement.

"Well hello sir, how are you?"

Doomand looked up, Clemont stood before him. Doomand hadn't seen his servant since he knocked him out of the ship on their way from Paris to here, and was interested to know how the robot had made his way here. He couldn't help noticing that Clemont now had only one leg, which may hint, but he never asked what had actually happened.

"Clemont!" the General had never thought he'd be so happy to see the little machine "can you me out of here?"

"I'm so very sorry sir but I was most offended by what you did in Wales so I have decided to quit" he threw his duster at Doomand.

"Yeh but…"

"I'm working in a weather station, spare parts or something sounds most spiffing, so I no longer have time for your errands"

"I know but couldn't you just…"

"I am sorry sir but I cannot possibly work for two people at once and I must be leaving now to start my new job, farewell. Maybe I'll see you some time"

"But, But, I…" Clemont left.

"Never mind" Doomand sighed as his lights went out, and he died.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman wasn't sure when he lost consciousness again but since he remembered nothing of the portal journey he guessed that it was somewhere around then. He looked at his surroundings, he was still in London. At least, it was London, but it was Candy Chateau. Candy Chateau in the same lay out as London, yet it was the Candy Chateau he'd always known. Nothing had changed.

The buildings where now giant hills made of cake, the Thames was a river of melted candy, and a tower of icing, could that be Big Ben? Had to be.

_But how? _Rayman wondered.

Then he realised. Then it suddenly made sense. All the questions he'd been puzzling over suddenly fitted in, they all worked. And all through one discovery.

It wasn't a bad discovery, not now anyway but maybe earlier on. With the answer of many questions, many new one's had spawned but they could wait.

Rayman looked, Ly, who was lying next to him, slowly woke up. She smiled when she saw him.

"Hi"

"Hi" Rayman replied.

"You ok, you look surprised"

Rayman laughed, through shock or relief he wasn't sure "that world," he sighed "that world, London… Paris… Germany… it was our world"

"What?"

"Ly," Rayman looked at his friend "that world was our past…"

**To be concluded...**


	7. Safe in your own world

**Ok, here's the conclusion to the first (hopefully not last) story I wrote for Fan fiction. Come on, be a chum and review. Pleeeeease. Lol.**

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Safe in your own world**

"I'm glad you figured it out," Pollukus laughed, "I was beginning to wonder if you ever would"

The squad where still in Candy Chateau, whilst each talked excitedly about Rayman's most recent discovery.

"So you knew then?" Ly looked up at Pollukus who was perched on a small pole made of some kind of sticky substance, and Rayman was a cake cliff just next to it at the same height "why didn't you tell us?"

Pollukus laughed, "I wasn't permitted"

"By who?" Rayman was shocked; he'd always seen Pollukus as the ultimate authority.

Pollukus laughed, "The almighty of course. He created this world, the one we've just seen, when the change was made, I was created by the lums, and assigned to create and look after the new world"

"The great change?" Murphy asked.

"The change from the world we where in before to this"

"When did that happen?" Gumsi questioned.

"And like, how man?" Romeo asked.

Pollukus shrugged "No one knows. No one knows when, why, or how. Could be a year after when we where there, two years, twenty, twenty thousand. Who's to say? Some of the older lums may know but they don't let on"

"So where did the lumsssss come from?" Sssssam slithered up.

"Yeh, Globox didn't see any there" said the blue guy.

"Again, we don't know" Pollukus replied.

"Wait," Rayman stood up "we did see some lums"

"Did we?"

"Yeh," Rayman went on "Sarrago, Yupio, Garento, and the hoodlums"

"I know Rayman," Ly sighed "but they came through the rift with us"

"But not back," Rayman pointed out "they stayed there didn't they, they became the first lums"

Everyone looked at each other "You got it!" Gumsi exclaimed.

"Splendid Rayman," Pollukus laughed, "you've just uncovered one of the world's secrets"

"So what about Barrig?" Rayman asked, "who was he exactly, what was the Emit Amulet?" he looked at the pieces of the Amulet, which he'd brought through with him.

"Basically what the lums told you," Pollukus told him "the Amulet controls the time portals, and when it was created, long before life, Barrig was born to protect time. Unfortunately, he chose to use the Amulet for his own evil. To manipulate ours and his fate, to make it in his own design. So, he was imprisoned in the Amulet and it was cast to a random time, the one where Dark found it. I think you know the rest" the gang nodded.

"So basically," Clark summed up "there was the world, almighty God who ruled it"

Pollukus laughed "Yeh, though strangely enough many of the human's didn't even think he existed"

"Like, weird man" Romeo commented.

"So anyway," Clark continued "the world as it was. We come through and drop off some lums, the lums then, at some point, turn it into this world?"

"Again, we can't be sure if it even was the lums," Pollukus hummed to himself "but chances are it was, they're the only beings that haven't evolved since"

Everyone nodded.

"What about Dark?" Murphy asked, "Where does he come into this?"

Pollukus shook his head "I don't know, I really don't know"

"I do" Rayman stood up.

All eyes where upon him.

"Pollukus," Rayman explained "we're not in our own time, Dark said, before he opened the portal, that we where going to 4142, we're still twenty five years in our past"

"Twenty five years!" Globox exclaimed.

"That's your age Rayman" Ly reminded him.

"No," Rayman corrected her "I'm older than that, that's how long I can remember"

"Pollukus sniffed the air "What month do you think it is?"

"Probably about Sssssramed" Sssssam guessed. (Sramed (or Sssssramed as Sssssam put it) is their world's (or as we now know, the future's name for) July)

Pollukus nodded, then closed his eyes "I sense it" he reported.

"What?" Globox asked.

Pollukus looked up "there was a storm last night," he replied "Rayman, I think you should come with me"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman sat, next to Pollukus, overlooking a small clearing in Spellbound Forest. There was only one tree in the clearing, a palm tree. It swayed gently in the breeze, the calm damp dew after the summer storm dripping from its branches.

Below it there lay a man, a man like none that this world had seen before. He had long, gingery yellow hair that stuck up like two rabbit ears and matched the colour of his skin, though it was slightly darker. His big eyes where a very dark blue, and sticking out in front of them was a rather large nose that his mouth sort of dropped down from. He was wearing white gloves, a purple top with a white circle on the front, and had yellow and white trainers on his feet. That was him all described, he had no limbs. Each body part just dangled in the air.

As Rayman looked upon his own history, he saw himself wake up and look around. Confused.

Rayman knew what he was thinking _Who am I? Where am I?_

_Rayman!!!_

Rayman closed his eyes, as he saw each thought and emotion he had felt on that day appear on his own face. He saw himself close his eyes, as he searched his deepest thoughts, then wince and jerk in pain and memories he would never forget struck him. He returned, his eyes open wide, the hurt showing clearly. Nothing but a name to guide him.

Rayman pitied this man, because he'd been there himself, he knew how painful it was. But as he pitied this man, he pitied himself.

Twenty-five years. And Rayman still remembered every action, every move, and every thought of that first day. He knew what happened next, a blue bird swooped at him, throwing him to the floor, knocking him out.

He waited for it to happen, knowing it would happen. But when it happened Rayman realised he'd been mistaken. It wasn't a bird, it was Dark. Dark had now found his hat and cloak; he'd probably bought them from some black market somewhere. There was no telling how long the gang had been knocked out after the portal journey.

Dark swooped at the younger Rayman, the young Rayman didn't have time to duck before Dark swiped at him with his now limbless hand and knocked him down.

"You will pay Rayman" the older Rayman heard him growl before he flew off.

Dark had transformed so quickly from the smart human to what he was now, and Rayman found it hard to believe. Yet he had now seen it happen, and it made sense.

The Dark who had stolen the Great Protoon had already been through the battle in the human world, or past. He had been born as a human, raised, led a normal human life, met Doomand (who had obviously been blasted through time rather than worlds as had been thought), become emperor of the pirates, then the recent events had happened. He was transformed, trapped in this world. Then he fought the younger Rayman when he kidnapped the Great Protoon. He already knew Rayman's future. Rayman meanwhile, when he experienced that future, knew Dark's future, a future Dark didn't yet know, and so on in a loop.

After Dark swiped at him, the young Rayman now lay unconscious, "First of many" his older self laughed from his hiding place. He longed to go to his younger self, tell him that everything would be all right in the end, but he knew he couldn't.

Pollukus looked up at Rayman, "Do you want to stay?" he asked.

"No," Rayman replied, "I'd do something stupid I know, I'd create a paradox. Besides," he grinned, "I've seen it before"

Pollukus laughed, and the two made their way back up a nearby hill to the others.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_What I always thought was a link to the past was a link to the future! _This thought lay in Rayman's head, circled his mind, as he and Pollukus rejoined their friends.

"_Some things are best forgotten" _that was what he'd said to Dark when he refused to learn to why Dark was why he was, little knowing he would learn later.

At times since he had wished he asked more, and now he felt no regret as all he would have learned would have been part of his future.

"_Would have ruined the surprise_," he joked to himself "_no, I was right. The past is unimportant" _

Throughout his last adventure Rayman's unstamped on hopes of finding out his past had been risen by Dark's presence but now that what they where playing on had turned out to be nothing they'd slipped and died. Now he had no motive to look for his past again, and concentrate on his future.

"_That's right isn't it? Isn't it_" one part of him told him it wasn't, but for some reason he didn't listen.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Pollukus looked at the pieces of the Emit Amulet "They're still connected by a very weak energy source," he reported "if I can extract it, I may be able to create one last portal to get us home"

"You rock Pollukus man," Romeo yelled.

"It'll take a few moments," Pollukus went on "I'll slip over there, a bit of space. You want to come Rayman?"

"No thanks," Rayman replied "I need to be alone for a bit" he stood up and began to make his way over a mountain of cake to the other side.

"Rayman!" Ly shouted after him.

Rayman turned.

"Your past," Ly told him "I just wanted to say, I… we… we'll find it out one day Rayman, I promise"

Rayman laughed, "I'm through with my past, its gone, its happened, its…" he laughed "in the past"

Ly nodded "Ok"

Rayman grinned "give me a shout when we're ready to go"

"I will" Ly replied, Rayman left.

"Y'know Ly," Pollukus approached the fairy "you should tell him how you feel"

Ly looked down at her creator "You think so"

"If anything," Pollukus went on "it may help him understand"

"Understand what?" Murphy asked.

"That if we forget our past, we loose our future…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rayman stared up at the clear sky, the sun shone on the Chateau, the sky was clear and blue, there was nothing to ruin it.

"I'm lucky," Rayman concluded to himself "I'm lucky to be here, with friends, in a world like this" he sighed with happiness.

Sure it had been through much, but it was stronger for it, and so where its inhabitants. Rayman still found it hard to believe that that world, polluted rivers, fumes in the air, and inhabitants who riot and turn on each other when chaos strikes. Yet here it was. Its future, no one knew at what point in its future but it was its future.

And for that world, to now be this world, something must have happened. Something good.

So, as Rayman thought back, whenever things looked bad for the human's they shouldn't be down. They shouldn't be unhappy, angry, or in pain. The human race hadn't died, Rayman could somehow feel that, they had simply evolved, evolved into something new, something good. The Teensies maybe, the lums, the fairies, who knew.

Then Rayman thought of something, a small possibility. Something that may be true may not be. Even if it was true, it didn't explain everything, but it explained half of it.

_Who am I?_

_WHAT am I?_

So, whenever the humans where in trouble, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. A light at the end of their evolution.

And that light… was Rayman…

For lack of a better ending. Ok, R&R 'cos I really want to know what you thought. Thanks to everyone who has and will review(ed).

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**I thought I'd better put this copyright thing just in case. Better safe than sorry. There's no real point in you reading this bit so I wouldn't.**

I don't own Rayman. Rayman and all related characters and icons are trademarks of UBI Soft. New characters created by me for this story include (but are not limited to) General Doomand, Clemont and Barrig. Sarrago, Yupio and Garento where not from the Rayman Games but their race (the lums) where.


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